


Tales of an Avonlea Summer (The Road to Engagement)

by daydreamexpress



Series: AnnE [3]
Category: Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Daily Life in Avonlea, Declarations Of Love, F/M, Feminism, Fluff, Gen, Love, One Big Happy Family, Post-Canon, Relationship Discussions, Strong Female Characters, Summer, Summer in Avonlea, The Characters' Daily Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-27
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:34:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 23,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22441888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daydreamexpress/pseuds/daydreamexpress
Summary: Anne and Gilbert are back in Avonlea for their first summer as a couple, during which they only grow closer to each other and to their wonderful combined families.
Relationships: Anne Shirley & Everyone, Diana Barry & Gilbert Blythe, Gilbert Blythe & Marilla Cuthbert, Gilbert Blythe & Sebastian "Bash" Lacroix, Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley, Marilla Cuthbert & Matthew Cuthbert & Anne Shirley
Series: AnnE [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1601335
Comments: 66
Kudos: 270





	1. "We'll have an adventure right here!"

**Author's Note:**

> This work started as a one shot of Anne and Gilbert babysitting Delly and quickly expanded into a really fun way to examine the dynamics between all the characters: Bash's attachment to Delly, Bash and Muriel's friendship, Rachel's role as mother hen to everyone, Jerry bonding with the Cuthberts, Diana and Gilbert's friendship among others, while naturally keeping the main focus on Anne and Gilbert.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anne and Gilbert have to insist on taking care of Delly while Bash and the Cuthberts are away, as the family isn't really keen on letting them.

An important large-scale agricultural fair was taking place in a neighbouring town and Mr. Barry, being one of the investors, had invited almost everyone in Avonlea to take part, and had especially insisted on Bash joining him given that their business partnership had proven very lucrative.

Since Miss Hazel was on a trip to Trinidad to visit family, and Marilla was joining Matthew at the fair, Bash, with the excuse of having no one to watch Delly (which was really a front for him not wanting to leave her, even for as little as a night's sleep), was trying his best to persuade Gilbert to go in his place, to no avail.

An exhausted Gilbert, who had not long returned from his first year in medical school, was looking to replenish himself in the light summer sun of PEI, as well as of course, commit to spending his every waking moment with Anne in what was their first summer as a couple. The last place either of them hoped to be was at some farmer’s fair, or anywhere other than solely in each other's intimate presence, for that matter.

"Bash, it's only a one-night stay,” Gilbert made his case, "You are the one in charge of our farm. You've done all the work while I've been away. You're the one that has to go."

"So you just expect me to leave my Delly? I can't do that!" said Bash, to Gilbert, the same Gilbert who at that very moment was feeding his Delly breakfast.

"You not wanting to leave Delly is not the same as having no one to watch her. That is downright disrespectful to me and my role as good old Uncle Gilby. Didn't it even occur to you that Anne and I could watch Delly?"

"What? The two of you? Together? Alone? For two days? Overnight? You two? Anne and Gilbert? Miss Carrots and Mister Slateface?" Bash spoke aloud the string of words his train of thought brought him.

Anne and Gilbert had not been back in Avonlea for long yet their names had circulated among many of the town elders with a special penchant for gossip. A peck at the cheek one church morning had been enough to elicit a few different reactions, with some believing an engagement surely to be imminent and some harbouring nothing but criticism at the young couple's indiscretion.

Bash and Muriel had already made a habit of having a good laugh together while keeping count of every time Rachel would come up to them fuming over words that had reached her ear or urged them to keep an eye on the young lovers. Word that the two had spent the night alone under the same roof would not help the situation.

"That's us!" exclaimed an irritated, yet slightly amused, yet mostly irritated Gilbert, "Look, Anne's not going to the fair for the same reason that I'm not. We are drained from school and we're not farmers-"

"And you can't be bothered because you have to spend all your time together-"

"After so many months apart, indeed we want to spend all our time together! And we could perfectly spend time together with Delly!" Gilbert insisted with a raised tone of voice.

"Well, Delly wouldn't want to get in the way!" Bash uncovered a silent grudge toward the fact that in the two weeks Anne and Gilbert had been home, all they'd done was spend time together, paying too little attention, if any at all, to everyone else, even to Delly.

 _'I'm sorry Delly. Uncle Gilby is a boy in love. Emphasis on boy!'_ he'd said to her the day before, when Gilbert had failed to show up on time for the play date he'd promised her. That morning Bash still harboured that same passive aggressiveness.

An overly enthusiastic Anne, holding a basket of goods for her planned breakfast with Gilbert, walked into the kitchen right in that heated moment, her cheerfulness abruptly met with the men's ill temper.

"Anne, what would you say if we took care of Delly while Bash is away?" Gilbert did not hesitate in asking.

"Good morning first of all," Anne said to him sternly, and then turned to Bash, "and that would be wonderful! I mean, I assumed it was a given that _we_ were going to watch Delly."

"Thank you!" Gilbert shouted as he stood up to offer Anne his cheek.

The smile his face would involuntary go into when doing so was very much like that of an enamoured, perhaps a bit spoiled, little boy, and was one Bash had been ecstatic to witness the first time, but not so much so the umpteenth one. That particular morning, he found it only apt to roll his eyes at the romantic display in his kitchen.

"You're not the only ones in town I can ask to watch Delly."

"But why would you ask anyone else when you have us?" asked Anne. "Bash, look, it's perfect really. Both of us have missed Delly so much and we haven't had the opportunity to spend as much time with her as we'd liked."

"Well no one was stopping you,” Bash muttered through his teeth.

"Well, now's our chance,” said Gilbert softly and flashed him a smile. "There's no excuse for you not to go!"

"You know I could leave her with Muriel."

"No,” they objected, calmly.

"I could leave her with Rachel!"

"No!" they protested, loudly.

Bash was only taunting them at that point.

"Wait, said Anne, "since you insist on making this so hard for us, even though we know you have every intention of letting us watch Delly, there is a way this could very easily be resolved. We'll just ask Delly!"

Anne was entirely set on the idea that Delly herself would be the one to decide and communicate who would watch her, even with her limited toddler vocabulary. She took her from Gilbert's lap and propped her up on the table.

"Now Delly," Anne fixed her eyes on her, "who would you like to spend time with while your papa is away? Mrs. Lynde," Anne shook her head, "or your kindred spirits Anne and uncle Gilby?"

Delly didn't do more than smile and coo for a few seconds, and then said something that sounded like "Enn!" which Anne used to further her argument.

"The little lady has spoken!" Anne held up her index finger and turned to Bash triumphantly.

"Bash, think, could she possibly be in hands more capable than ours?" argued Gilbert as he helped Anne support Delly up on the table, the three of them forming a lovely family portrait.

Bash had long run out of fake arguments.

"Alright you can look after Delly,” he groaned, "But good luck trying to convince Marilla to let you stay over."

When Matthew, Marilla, and Jerry had come to pick up Bash so they could all leave together, nothing seemed to rush him away from Delly or keep Marilla from repeating her pointers.

"You are two responsible adults and we trust you will behave as such, especially with Baby Delphine under your care. We won't stand for any foolishness. Don't make us regret this very liberal arrangement!" Marilla made clear.

It had taken Marilla only slightly less convincing that it had taken Bash earlier, albeit for an entirely different reason that looked and sounded a lot like Rachel Lynde.

"Marilla, it is slanderous of you to tell us such things,” Anne told her.

"I'll tell you exactly what's slanderous!" Marilla raised her voice. Matthew put his hand on his sister’s forearm so as to soothe her.

"Now," she continued, "Rachel will stop by for breakfast tomorrow and I won't hear a word of it! You're lucky I managed to persuade her to leave you be for today."

"You'll be grand, don't worry!" said Matthew as he hugged Anne goodbye. He proceeded to shake Gilbert's hand and use the other to warmly squeeze his shoulder, a display of closeness that filled Anne’s heart with joy.

Jerry waited patiently for them by the carriage despite having said his goodbyes half an hour prior. Bash, in the meantime, took forever to part with Delly.

"She will be just fine, Bash. You can go now,” Gilbert assured him.

"She will, but will I be?” said a dejected Bash as he embraced his daughter, "Wait, she could come with me! I know! We'll have an adventure!"

"Bash, you know there's no bigger proponent of adventures than me," intervened Anne, "and even I can assuredly declare that this is not the adventure for Delly. Not to worry, though. We will have plenty of adventures right here..."

"...safely!" she promptly added after the adults flashed her a serious look.

"It's just, I've never been away from her, not even for one night!" admitted Bash.

"You will be just fine," Gilbert assured once again, "and Delly will be in safe hands. She is in safe hands. Now, go make our farm proud!"

After a long speech assuring Delly he would be back in no time, and that he loved her 'more than there were stars in the sky and waves in the ocean and strands of grass on all the fields of Avonlea, nay Prince Edward Island, nay the entire world', Bash did eventually manage to leave Delly with Anne and Gilbert and away with the Cuthberts.

"I have no idea why everyone made such a fuss,” Anne said as she closed the door, "Delly is an exceptional girl and we'll have so much fun, won't we, Delly?"

"Indeed we will!" proclaimed Gilbert as he lifted Delly into his arms.

They would regret their unwavering conviction of those words come nightfall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of this could have been a paragraph or even a sentence, but there's nothing I love more than writing dialogue for these characters and imagining the exact conversations they would have.


	2. "You paint such a beautiful picture!"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anne and Gilbert have a perfect day taking care of Delly, and come to important realizations while doing so.

The day went by without incident. In caring for Delly Anne and Gilbert experienced a taste of domesticity they both quite enjoyed. Then again, as per Gilbert’s thoughts, they could have been on latrine duty together and he still would have had the time of his life if it meant spending it with Anne.

They had been looking forward to every moment they had to spend with each other, but neither had expected that one of the most precious memories they would create with one another was the lovely little window of domestic life they were looking through.

For lunch they turned to Mary's book of recipes, like the entire family often would. When Anne needed to look through the book for pointers on something she didn't remember, like if the recipe called for one or two pinches of cayenne, Gilbert would step in with the solution from the memory of having often seen Mary do it.

Bash had encouraged everyone to speak to Delly about Mary whenever they could. She didn't yet possess the vocabulary to ask complicated questions, but Bash felt the need to provide her with the answers so even when she did, she would never even have the need.

As they prepared lunch, Anne and Gilbert made sure to tell Delly how incredible her mother had been. They took the meal out to the orchards where the three had the loveliest of picnics. They took turns feeding her, then playing with her, as well as reading Pinocchio to her, acting out each character in perfect Anne fashion.

They couldn't help but fall more and more in love with each other while doing so. Anne, at most in her element, never failed to captivate Gilbert while his attempts to follow along and mirror her same zeal and passion for storytelling, never failed to entrance Anne. By all means, it was a perfect afternoon.

Later, as they were putting Delly down for her afternoon nap, the events of the day urged Anne to initiate a conversation the two hadn't had before.

"Gilbert, I can't help but bring up something,” she said in a serious tone.

"Was I not a good Geppetto? I really don't know what an Italian accent sounds like,” he said half-seriously.

Anne laughed. "No. You were a perfect Geppetto."

Gilbert did have an idea of what Anne was trying say, as he was already thinking it and the two were usually quite in tune. After the courtship began, of course, not in the dreadful times prior.

"Might it be then," he said as they left Delly's room, "that this...could be a glimpse...into what our future together may look like?"

"So, it has crossed your mind."

Gilbert didn't know exactly what to say, or rather how much of his heart to reveal.

He'd started planning a future with Anne ever since he was made sure they had one. He'd even dared to picture it long before that, back during the painful time when he was certain Anne didn't love him back.

Some nights, as he'd laid awake burdened by the vital decisions he was expected to make, sometimes holding his mother's ring (at the time intended for someone else), he would escape the agony by daring to fantasize a fully-fledged future with Anne.

He would picture himself proposing to her instead. He would imagine holding her in his arms and kissing her lips and telling her repeatedly he loved her, and it was with her, that he'd be travelling half way across the globe, even farther, and the thought had only brought him happiness.

At the time he would do his best to snap himself out of what felt like impossible scenarios and ban such thoughts from his mind. But not much later, when the fantasies turned into actual possibilities, he had felt nothing but relief at the prospect of them no longer being mere dreams, but joyful visions of a stable happy life.

He loved the idea of one day setting down roots. Of it being him and Anne, and little kids running around with her same energy and spirit. The thought filled his heart with joy, and he knew in that joyful heart of his that was meant to be his future, and no matter how distant, it couldn't look any better.

But that very same thought was quite bittersweet. Imagining such a future while they still had to be apart and before they'd had the opportunity to go on adventures, travel, tie the knot, as well as begin their careers, seemed too hasty and irresponsible a thing to do.

"Well, Anne, I know we haven't discussed it...or rather haven't had much of a chance to, what with being far apart and school being in full swing," Gilbert paused as he took a deep breath, "but I have very much thought about our future beyond just our hopes and dreams."

He leaned in closer to Anne and looked deep into her eyes.

"With you, the promise of marriage and family is the only thing that makes sense,” he said nervously.

Anne smiled at him with love. His words warmed her heart.

"Of course I've very much thought about it too,” she admitted, "And I do want to hold off on engagement until we finish school, but, especially after the day we’ve had, it feels scrumptious to think about.”

"You know I did fully let you know of my intention to be engaged to you from the very beginning,” said Gilbert playfully.

"In your first letter, I think."

"The very first letter. The one..."

"The one which suffered a most tragic fate at my hands!" exclaimed Anne.

Gilbert laughed and nodded.

"I remember you saying that you were meant be bride of adventure, but-"

"I resigned from being Bride of Adventure around ten months ago when a certain someone showed up at my boarding house. Not that adventure won't be a prominent part of our lives but...bride of Gilbert sounds just as thrilling to me."

"I’m relieved to hear it. I thought I didn't stand a chance!"

After they shared a laugh, Gilbert's face turned into a serious expression as he took Anne's hands in his.

"Anne, the promises I've made to you...I fully intend to keep them,” he said in reference to the hopes they'd expressed in their letters over the past months, "Mark my words. There is so much we'll experience together, side by side."

"I know. I can't wait,” Anne said. She smiled affectionately at him and put her head in his shoulder.

Gilbert circled back to what originally started their conversation.

"And one day," he said, "what could be greater in this world than a few little tots with red hair, running around, stirring up trouble?"

Anne burst into laughter.

"A few?"

"Yeah, and their first words would be 'scope for the imagination', and they'd have your exact passion and spirit and intelligence," Gilbert slowly listed, "and...they’d be the only people I could ever imagine loving as much as I love you."

His revelation brought Anne to tears. She hadn't given it as much thought as he had.

"You paint such a beautiful picture,” she said, "It's wonderful, the comfort of knowing I have an entire future to spend with you. To build with you. It puts me at ease. I love you."

"I love you more."

The two shared a brief moment of peace in each other's arms until being alarmingly interrupted by Delly's loud cry.


	3. "We already are life mates."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taking care of Delly proves not to be a breeze, but Anne and Gilbert still close the night out perfectly together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They go big and they go fast, but they're Anne and Gilbert.

After dinner, Delly revealed a side of herself that Gilbert's experience with her and Anne's expertise in taking care of children, combined, were not enough to soothe.

"Maybe her nap was too long, that's why she refuses to sleep! Why she won't stop crying I don't know!" groaned Anne.

"Maybe she misses Bash. She's used to him singing to her before bed and kissing her goodnight," Gilbert answered the question Anne had very much meant as rhetorical.

Delly could not speak more than a few words yet, but she was more than clear with her repetition of "Papa!" that she did, in fact, miss Bash.

"Nice observation."

Anne gave Gilbert a scolding look and rolled her eyes at him, then took Delly out of his arms, and into her lap.

"Don't worry Delly, Papa Bash is just fine and he will be back in no time. You're with us! We were having fun!" she said in near desperation.

Delly continued crying. Then she cried some more.

Anne and Gilbert attempted all sorts of ways to calm her down, one children book after the other, a few of Anne's stories, sock puppets, and even resorted to reading Gilbert's college textbooks to her to get her to stop crying and go to sleep, but she wouldn't budge.

"Who'd guess giving her college education a boost at sixteen months wasn't the best idea,” said Anne slamming Gray's Anatomy on the table.

"Anne, why don't we try explaining to her where Bash is, but in a thrilling way,” suggested Gilbert.

"What, tell her he's at a magical agricultural fair?"

"Let's...embellish his adventure,” said Gilbert.

"Yes, let's tell her about her papa's adventure, and why he isn't here,” Anne nodded excessively, turning to Delly.

"That's a good idea!"

"Well, let's see,” Anne began, "Delly, I know you want your papa, but he isn't here. Because he is on a mission- a very short mission from which he will be back very soon - to find a treasure...for the princess. For you! For princess Delphine."

She was not technically wrong.

"Yes," Gilbert nodded, playing along, "and as he does, he will go on all sorts of adventures, all in the name of his princess Delly. He will...slay bad guys?"

"No, too violent,” Anne mouthed.

"He will...set off to battle a great sea monster," she continued "...which of course has only been deemed so by the malicious and ill-intentioned townsfolk who are ever so viciously only out for blood. The creature they call a monster, is no monster at all! It's but a wise old misunderstood...crab."

"Right! A crab who only wants friends, but is shunned for... being a...large crab?" added Gilbert.

"For being an unusual crab, with a unique and unforeseen exoskeleton which while repulsive to some, only makes it more beautiful."

"Right. Do you think she understands any of this?" whispered Gilbert.

"Doesn't matter, it's working."

Delly seemed to have calmed down. Anne went on to tell Delly all about how Bash became friends with the crab and how interesting it actually turned out to be, teaching him many lessons and telling him many stories.

"Who better than Bash, your wonderful brave papa, to understand that the crab is no enemy, not of his anyway. So he will befriend the crab, and that way he will unlock all the treasures that lie beneath the sea and he will make his way here again to baby Delly, to his princess Delphine, and offer them to you so you can grow up with all the best there is in the world."

"I think we're monumentally spoiling her if that's what we're teaching her," Gilbert pointed out.

"Right, but you see Delly, the greatest treasure your papa can give you, is his love. That's what the treasure is. His love for you Delly. And that love will bring him back here in no time, our darling! You see now?"

Delly yawned. Chances were she had worn herself down, but Anne and Gilbert pocketed the story to use in similar occasions anyway.

"Good night our lovely princess."

Delly was at last asleep. It was very late at night.

"I wouldn't mind a small percentage of that treasure after this evening,” Gilbert said as he threw himself down on the sofa.

"Given that the treasure was love, you are bound to way more than a small percentage of it from Bash. And about a hundred percent from me,” Anne said as she lay next to him.

"I am so exhausted. And just two weeks ago I went by with three hours of sleep every night for exams and I was not then as exhausted as I am now."

"Same. I had an article due for the paper and four assignments for school on top of exams one night that I had to forgo sleep altogether and I was...No, that was still more exhausting!"

"To be fair you do take on way too much."

"I have been told that by a lot of my academic rivals and I won't hear it from you as well...hmm...my former academic rival!" Anne teased.

"I know it's hard work," Gilbert said as he and Anne intertwined hands, "being a relentless thorn, was it, in the side of those who refuse to amend the status quo."

"It's ceaseless work,” admitted Anne.

"I'm just saying there's a lot of time ahead. Take it easy on yourself while you're at Queens. But, of course, just a well-meaning suggestion from your concerned beloved...suitor."

Gilbert pronounced the last word with a sigh, as if to mean that such a formal word, meant to describe to the eyes of the world what the two were but not nearly all what the two meant to one another, was not the right one. There was no word in anyone’s vocabulary at the time, not lover, not paramour, not beau, that was fit to describe what Anne and Gilbert really were to each other.

Anne noticed the change in tone in Gilbert’s voice and understood what he, perhaps entirely involuntarily, silently conveyed.

"You know, I have long theorized on what the appropriate terms should be for two people who love each other. "

"What?" he asked curiously.

"I think the best term for people whose hearts are set on spending their entire lives together is ‘life mates’. And what they share between them, simply, a love bond."

"I like that,” said Gilbert and smiled.

"A love bond is not extended only to romantic relationships. Any two people can have it. For us, it’s romantic but isn’t is so much more as well?"

Gilbert nodded as he brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it.

"I think," Anne began to grow more nervous, "since you and I have this perfect love bond, and we’re already certain of our future, we already are life mates. Even if we’re apart...But, if that’s too painful or too hasty as it understandably is, heart mates, would be quite fitting. " she smiled as she continued, "To the world we’re suitors, a couple courting, but to us, we’re something beyond what laws of courtship dictate. We’re future life mates, current heart mates, and forever...soul mates."

She ended her speech by looking deep into her heart mate’s eyes. He gazed at her with infinite admiration. A smile had taken hold upon his lips.

"I...have a strong love bond with that idea." He wrapped his arms around Anne and then, as if being poked by an imaginary stick jolted up and taking Anne by the hand, pulled her up as well.

He stood before her.

"Anne," he declared solemnly "my Anne with an E, my love, my heart..." he paused in suspense as Anne stared wide eyed, "...mate, my soul mate, if I ever dreamed of one, my dearest Anne, " his tone changed from humorous to sentimental, as he himself became more serious and his gaze grew more intense, and he approached closer to Anne, "Nothing on Earth, heaven, sky, and the vast universe could possibly make me happier than being your life mate."

Anne felt a perfect combination of awe and euphoria completely overtake her, much like when Gilbert had first stood before here in nervous silence before kissing her for the first time, much like when he’d first surprised her in Avonlea, much like every single instance she’d seen him enter a room and look at her and smile at her.

"You as my life mate, makes reality heaven for me,” she said.

The two kissed and holding each other, swayed to an inaudible tune only they were capable of hearing. Not long after, in that perfect moment of bliss, the fell asleep on the sofa, warm and at ease in each other's arms, the divine gratification and unspeakable happiness of being loved in return brimming their hearts with more love than each thought humanly possible.


	4. "Too bad it's all in vain!"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bash returns early and Rachel comes bearing opinions and demands.

Bash arrived home at the break of dawn. He was welcomed by the sight of Anne and Gilbert nestled in each other's arms, fast asleep on the sofa.

He smiled fondly at them as he was reminded of the same tenderness he once shared with his Mary. Like he was used to, he swiftly chased off his brain the sadness that would begin to take hold at the mere thought of her, and went to check on Delly, who was sleeping soundly in her crib. He kissed her forehead and before lying down to compensate his lack of sleep, returned quickly to the parlour.

"You might want to move before Rachel comes shooing you off of each other with a broom,” he whispered to the two.

"Bash, you're here?" moaned Gilbert.

"I hired a carriage and travelled all night. I wanted to be home for breakfast. Spare your judgement, I know. I'm too attached."

They were too tired to afford him any judgement at all.

"And I know you did a fine job. Thank you for watching Delly!"

"You're welcome Bash! It was a breeze,” Anne lied, half asleep.

"You could watch her today if you'd like some more time with her. I'm going to catch some z's right now. Don't forget Rachel's coming for breakfast. Be sure to be awake when she gets here."

"We'll be here all day Bash, no worries,” assured Gilbert. "Oh, and Bash, in case Delly asks, you were on a mission to battle a giant lonely crab but then befriended it and it gave you a treasure that was not an actual treasure but your love for Delly."

"And we're entitled to a small percentage of it,” added Anne, holding up her finger, eyes still closed.

"Are you sleep talking?"

"Almost!"

Bash turned to give them both kisses on the forehead before going to sleep. Anne and Gilbert enjoyed a few more hours too, until Rachel came in and indeed pushed them off each other with a broom.

"How many scandals will you rouse in Avonlea? No such contact until you are married!"

"Rachel, it's only a scandal if you make it so,” said Anne rubbing her eyes. "We were just sitting next to each other as we slept. Are we not allowed to sit? Are we not allowed to sleep?"

"You were smooched against one another in a manner so improper I could not tell where one ended and the other began. And it felt wrong to look long enough to try."

"We were so tired last night,” said Anne, "I could've huddled up next to a scarecrow and not noticed."

"Good to know," said Gilbert.

Anne smiled teasingly.

"You two will be the death of me!"

Anne stood up and gave Rachel a kiss on the cheek.

"Please relax. It can't be good for your nerves.”

"I don't have nerves,” she said.

"That book on the table would tell you otherwise,” said Anne pointing to Gray's Anatomy.

"Bash is here by the way, Mrs. Lynde,” spoke Gilbert. "He travelled all night to come here earlier so he's catching up on sleep. If you want you can head home, we promised we'll take care of everything."

"Yeah, but who will take care of you two? You need chaperoning!" Rachel said firmly.

Gilbert stood up and sneaked Anne a good morning kiss when Rachel's back was turned.

"Hey, keep in mind you two! I am a hawk. There's no making a gull out of a hawk. Understand?"

"We've no intention of doing so Mrs. Lynde,” said Gilbert.

"What you should have intention of doing, Gilbert Blythe, is proposing. That way perhaps we could bring some decency back into this household."

"We?"

"Although with your dynamic I wouldn't be surprised if it were Anne doing the proposing."

"Is that an insult to me or to you?" whispered Gilbert.

"It wasn't an insult. Mr. Lynde and I possess a similar dynamic. I have always been the one to lead the decisive moments in our relationship, despite us both being in possession the same fiery passion and spi-”

"Thank you Mrs. Lynde,” They made sure to interrupt, as Rachel was notorious for having gone too far one too many times, even, and sometimes especially, when lecturing them on propriety.

"I'm just saying, whoever it shall be to go ahead and propose, you should at least get engaged, given the way you spend your time. Always hopping around, not keeping your hands to yourselves."

"And I shall very respectfully tell you that while it is not business that concerns you in any way but because, and only because, you are our friend, we have decided to hold off on getting engaged since our plans force us to be apart for a while longer."

"And you, Anne Shirley-Cuthbert, of all people, do not want to be part of such a romantical tale? Hmm? Your fiancé having to be away from you for the greater good of saving people's lives. Or learning how to save them."

"It would be utter foolishness to view it that way Mrs. Lynde and there is no use trying to convince us,” Anne said.

"Well, an old lady may try. Being that I am your friend, it seems you don't want me to live to see the day you two are wed. Fine then, so be it,” she said as she cracked eggs onto the sizzling pan.

Anne and Gilbert stared at each other baffled, both rendered entirely speechless by Rachel's unexpected attempt at a guilt trip.

"Wh-wh-?" was all Anne could say, while Gilbert’s eyebrows did all the talking for him.

Rachel meanwhile, had a most satisfied look on her face.

"How is Delly not awake yet?" she asked. They were relieved she changed the topic.

"She would not go to sleep last night so she's probably exhausted,” explained Gilbert.

"As are we,” Anne remarked.

"So, it seems the two of you have had some excellent domestic practice."

Neither said anything and held their breaths in preparation for another of Rachel's comments. When it seemed like she wasn't going to say anything, they nearly sighed in relief.

Nearly, because before they could, she blurted out "Too bad it's all in vain!"

"Doh!" they exclaimed in unison.

Bash entered the kitchen with Delly looking too refreshed for someone who hadn't caught much sleep. Delly was smiling at her papa.

"Good morning everybody!"

"Good monin, evybody!" Delly imitated her father. She was so adorable that Anne and Gilbert could almost forget the great plight of the night before. Almost.

"Good morning Bash!" said Rachel, "I was certain you’d be back before breakfast! I should have bet money on it!"

"Good morning baby Delly, sweet, loud and relentless baby Delly. I love you so much!" said Anne as she kissed her forehead.

Bash smiled. "Serves you right for only thinking of her yesterday!"

"We'll have you know she was crying last night because she missed her papa."

"She cried for her papa! Papa cried for you, my little princess!"

"Keep up the princess story,” said Gilbert.

"Does this have to do with the giant crab?"

"I have to say, " said Anne, "My storytelling skills are admittedly rusty. Between reporting real life stories and staying on top of my academic reading, and more-"

"Of course,” All three said.

"I haven't had much time to hone my beloved craft. I am not proud of the fact."

"Don't sweat it Anne,” said Bash. "The story sounded perfectly creative to me. One thing I didn't catch though was the crab's name."

"Hmm, poppycock!" said Rachel, almost involuntarily.

"The crab's name is Rachel! How about that!" Anne cried out in rage and left the kitchen.

"Still a child that one,” commented Rachel.

"Don't worry Mrs. Lynde," Gilbert attempted to mend the situation, "the crab turned out to be a wise sage with a heart of gold. Bash ended up befriending it and it gave him the treasure meant for princess Delly. The treasure was metaphorical though. You see, it was fatherly love. We were afraid of accidentally instilling a sense of materialism in her...precious...young...mind."

He slowed his explanation when Rachel flashed him a bewildered look.

"So it's a compliment really. I'm going to-" Gilbert made off without finishing his sentence and went after Anne.

Bash got a good kick of all that was happening in his kitchen. He sat quietly and sipped his tea, while Rachel didn't know who to scold first. Neither spoke.

"I'm going to ask them to be Delly's godparents,” Bash broke the silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was very fun to write. There's nothing I love more than Rachel being a little too much.


	5. "It's good to know you talk!"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More realizations and affirmations from Anne as the day continues.

Muriel had decided to swing by the house to check to see how Anne and Gilbert were doing and hopefully catch them in time for breakfast. When she went inside she was surprised to see Bash and Rachel there.

Anne and Gilbert greeted her good morning and she hilariously stared at the entire company confused.

"What day is it?"

"The day you think it is, don't worry. I came back early,” Bash assured her.

"How early exactly, it's barely 8 am."

"Dawn."

"Could you not stay away for just half a day more?"

"I think we already know that was expecting too much of me."

Muriel let out a resigned sigh. "Well at least you almost made it a whole night," she said setting down her basket, "Was the expo as boring as you expected?"

"Even more so. The interesting people looking to meet a black farmer had all gone missing. But I did make a few purchases, so it wasn't unfruitful. Still not worth leaving Delly though!" he said, waving his finger at Muriel.

Muriel had counselled him all week into being able to part with Delly. She'd had the ulterior motive of wanting to watch Delly herself and spend more than an hour at a time with her, but she'd stepped back and given her former students the pleasure.

"Well, did you guys have fun with her?" she asked them.

"Yes, we did. Until she was suddenly possessed by mysterious occult forces attempting communication with this plane through the incessant cries of a sixteen-month old baby,” said Anne, grumpily, and oh so dramatically.

"More or less,” confirmed Gilbert.

"Well, I see that as a failure on _your_ part, to be honest,” said Muriel. Bash laughed.

"These two seem to want every bit of taste of the domestic life before one of them even pops the big question,” commented Rachel.

"Mrs. Lynde has been hard at work all morning pestering us on the matter," expressed Anne through a sarcastic happy demeanour.

"Hey, I'm just relieved it's not me anymore,” said Muriel while spreading butter on her toast, "Ah, my students are now the ones being pressured to marry. I am officially old and I couldn't be happier."

"I too have come to cherish my days as an old man,” Bash clicked his glass of milk with Muriel's.

Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Should I check your water supplies perhaps?" she began to say in a threatening and serious tone, "To check, to see, to make sure, that no one has spiked them with some sort of voodoo nip that makes you all so averse to the idea of matrimony!"

"That is a fascinating theory, Mrs. Lynde,” said Anne sarcastically. "You should propose a hypothesis and maybe Gilbert can take the research to Toronto with him."

"Stop patronizing me young lady."

"Why, you'll be heralded a genius. 'Townswoman theory proven true: Mysterious concoction in the waters makes people believe marriage not to be the most important thing in life!' That's a shocking headline. People will be positively scandalized."

"You sure know a thing or two about that,” Rachel teased back.

Bash, Muriel and Gilbert enjoyed the interaction in silence, and while Rachel feigned an irritated demeanour, it all remained amusing banter.

"You're growing up around heathens, Delly. Heathens I tell you!" she said half-jokingly.

"Since we're on that topic," jumped in Muriel, "Anne and Gilbert, I came by to ask you both to join me tomorrow at a meeting for the Avonlea Gazette. The students would all be so happy to meet you and I know for a fact they'd be thrilled to have an actual published reporter like you, Anne, speak to them."

"I'm hardly a reporter, Miss Stacy," said Anne, "but I'd be happy to join you."

"Me too,” said Gilbert.

"Wonderful then."

Back at Green Gables, while the two prepared dinner, Anne complained to Marilla about Rachel's insistence on the matter of engagement.

"She won't relent, Marilla. I don't understand. There are plenty of courting couples in Avonlea who have yet to be engaged. Why is she so preoccupied with us?"

"Perhaps she finds the matter to be particularly urgent with the two of you."

"Because heaven forbid young people in love indicate a morsel of affection in public!"

"No Anne, it's that you two are..."

"Too in love!" Anne proclaimed loudly.

"Indelicate verging on improper,” said Marilla firmly, "And historically speaking, out of every courting couple in Avonlea you certainly have the most penchant for causing trouble. Moody and Ruby don’t go giving each other kisses in church. But, pay the elders of Avonlea no mind. They're just happy to partake in summer gossip, that's all. I cannot tell you how peaceful the last few months have been. I so had been looking forward to you being back home but I had not missed all the chatter."

"I do pay them no mind. I just wish Rachel would do the same and that way she wouldn't come to us and afflict us with the townsfolk's ill-intentioned words.

"I say you're lucky to have Rachel on your side. Despite pleas to the contrary, she has always insisted on assuming the role of mother hen and it's one she does expertly. Everyone under her care and protection is fortunate. You ought to thank her for upholding your image in the eyes of Avonlea. You should hear the way she speaks of you. Better words couldn't come out of my own mouth. Yes, she might be...too much! She is and I could tell you that best, but she is...our Rachel. She's family."

"Marilla, I'm certainly touched to hear you so passionately defend your bosom friend. You have me enthralled. And you're right. I am grateful for Rachel and I do so appreciate her. And I'd appreciate her all the same if she kept half the things she said to herself is all. That would be ideal."

"Now there's impossible and then there's what you just said,” Marilla quipped, making Anne chuckle.

"So, tell me about the fair,” Anne asked the family during dinner, "Should I regret spending my night with a crying toddler?"

"And Delly,” teased Jerry. He’d made a habit of poking fun at Gilbert just to rile Anne up. He never failed to do so.

Anne flashed him a look of pretend offense as she tried to keep herself from laughing.

"The fair was great,” Jerry then said, "It was fascinating to see all these new sophisticated machines that can really do the work of man."

"I reckon you shouldn't be so excited," said Marilla, "they'd leave you out of a job."

She had joked, but Jerry had perhaps not understood and went quiet. Both Marilla and Matthew noticed.

"Good thing we'd never make that investment,” she jumped to correct herself, "We love our farm boy too much."

"That's exactly what I said to the man,” added Matthew.

They all laughed and continued their dinner. A little later Anne brought up a new topic.

"Gilbert and I were talking last night..." she said.

"It's good to know you talk,” Marilla joked, as Matthew looked down to his plate in horror.

"We do. Quite a lot even. And last night, we talked about our future. Not that we've ever shied away from talking about it but before, it's always been more about hopes and wishes whereas last night's conversation...what we said...felt so momentous."

"How so?" Marilla took interest. Matthew became increasingly anxious about Anne possibly making some announcement he wasn't at all ready to hear.

"Well, I haven't changed my mind about engagement," she said, causing Matthew to sigh in relief, "and we agreed we won't consider it we finish school, but we did discuss important topics, major topics, like...married life and family. Children. It's all in the distant future but, it feels wonderful to picture it as a future. It makes me feel so safe, to have a home in Gilbert, besides Green Gables. All I've been thinking about lately is how at one time, I had no home, no family, nobody at all, and now, I can find anchor and harbour and shore in so many people. I'm so grateful to have such a large and beautiful family."

"We're so happy for you Anne," said Marilla, "and so proud of the way in which you see things. It takes great maturity and humility to be so appreciative of one's circumstances. I don't think I had that until I was much older than you. Fate sure has a way of rewarding you in ways you never expected, and I too couldn't be more grateful."

"Me neither,” added Matthew, as he squeezed Anne's hand.

"And may I just add," said Jerry, "I love Green Gables, and I especially love the Cuthberts!"

They clicked glasses and extended the duration of their dinner by over an hour, laughing over anecdotes and continuing to catch up with Anne.

The next morning, as she and Gilbert went to see Miss Stacy and the newspaper club, Anne expressed those same sentiments to him.

"When we talked about a family, it made me so excited especially considering we're or-"

"Only children?" 

"I was going to say orphans but yes. Yes. We are orphans and only children yet, at the same time, our families couldn't be bigger and richer and more loving and more entirely wonderful."

"It's true, we do have one wonderful, wild, crazy, family."

"I've decided to write a piece. Titled just that. 'My wonderful, wild and crazy family.' I could try and publish it in 'Charlottetown Daily' but if not, I'll find a way. I want to write all about my own personal journey and how I came to be Matthew and Marilla's daughter and if it would be alright with you, about how you came to meet Bash and how you became a family. I want to mention how wonderful Mary was and how special Delly is to us. I want to write about how much I love Jerry and how wonderfully complex Rachel is and about our relationship with Miss Stacy. About Diana, Aunt Jo, Cole. All the different ways people can become a family. All the different ways a family might look like. I'll work on it all throughout the summer and fill it with as many anecdotes and stories as I can. It will be my love letter to them.”

Gilbert fixed on Anne his most loving gaze, his eyes glowing brightly and his jaw almost dropping at every idea she so fervently voiced. Her passion never failed to have him entirely bewitched.

"Anne, that sounds like a perfect idea," he said softly, "It will be so special."

"I'm glad you think so,” said Anne and smiled at him lovingly.

"My only concern is about how you'd fit all of it into an article. A novel wouldn't seem enough to contain it all."

Anne smiled as if a light bulb had just turned on in her brain. "Maybe one day, I'll do just that!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't say it enough: I would die for every member Anne and Gilbert's collective family.


	6. "Don't be afraid to challenge convention!"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anne holds a passionate speech in front of the young members of the Avonlea Gazette about the importance of change and striving for a better future , but not everyone is on her side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter came out of the blue as I was writing but I am very pleased with it. What Anne is fighting for remains relevant today, and it's only one of the ways she is ahead by a century.

"And that is how, through peaceful protest, we managed to preserve our right to free speech. The men of the town board tried to convince us that what they were doing was simply making suggestions about what to write and what to avoid, but make no mistake, they were censuring us! And we simply didn't let them. The lesson we yielded is one rooted in the very existence this club: No one dares suppress truth and no one dares silence our voices!"

Anne's powerful speech had all the members of the Avonlea Gazette engaged and had filled them with nothing but admiration for her. She had been speaking for nearly twenty minutes and while a few of the less zealous students did yawn, most of them remained riveted.

"Don't be afraid to challenge convention," Anne began to conclude, "especially when you know in your heart that it is severely outdated. Never allow your fellow townsfolk to brush off injustice with a mere 'this is the way things are' when they simply don't have to be. And, don’t ever, allow yourselves to fall into the belief that you cannot make a difference. Because you can! Together, all of you can! Thank you!”

Miss Stacy thanked Anne for her passionate speech, which, had been everything she had expected from her dear former student and precisely the passion and enthusiasm she was hoping Anne- like only she could- would inject into her new students.

“Any questions for Anne?” she then asked.

A young lady sitting in front, with a detectable gleam of passion in her eyes very similar to Anne’s, eagerly raised her hand.

“Yes, Emma?” said Miss Stacy.

"Miss Shirley-Cuthbert,” Anne did not think she would ever get used to being addressed as Miss by students not more than a year or two younger, “Can you tell us about your experience with Charlottetown Daily? How were you able to publish articles for them?"

"Well,” Anne began explaining, “I got involved with the paper when I was researching an assignment for my natural history class at Queens. One of the editors, the kind and admirable Miss Gourd, was very helpful to me. After I showed her my finished paper she liked my writing so much that she insisted they give me the opportunity to contribute to the newspaper as a youth reporter. The editor in chief allowed me one article which he said he would scrap if he was not impressed and let me tell you, he was not easily impressed. That week was hell, to say the least. My roommate and best friend Diana, who was there to witness my panic first hand, would concur. Let’s just say in the end I was triumphant, and they published my article on student life in the year 1900. And they offered me two others after that as follow up. Hopefully I'll get to write more when I’m back.”

"That is incredible!" exclaimed many of the students present.

"Thank you. It's been an amazing experience. Nothing compares to exerting yourself in work you are passionate about and having it not only be taken seriously but recognized and complimented."

Gilbert and Miss Stacy looked upon her proudly.

"Any more questions?" asked Muriel.

A young lady with perfect blonde curls and unfriendly demeanour, sitting in the third row, raised her hand.

“Yes, Kitty.”

"How do you feel about having to abandon it all one day?" she asked Anne crudely.

"I'm sorry?" was all a stunned Anne could say after some hesitation.

"When you two get married,” the girl looked to Anne and then Gilbert, "You won't be able to publish any more articles or write for any more papers. It’s highly unlikely you’ll be able to affect change then.”

They had not expected such contempt from one of Miss Stacy’s students. It seemed like a disciple of the town’s elderly had infiltrated the Gazette. She reminded Anne of a young Josie Pye, long before they grew close. Only miles meaner. Anne had half a mind to be unkind, but managed to maintain her cool.

"That is not a concern for us at the moment," she said.

"But it will be, eventually. First you go on and on about challenging convention when the life you lead will be most conventional. And you keep trying to push us to pursue careers when reality is that the second you get married you'll be expected to abandon yours."

"Kitty, that is highly-" Miss Stacy began to say.

“I won't be expected to abandon anything,” asserted Anne, “Like no woman ever should. Miss Stacy has a career, right?"

"Yes, but she's a widow.”

“And we’re simply suggesting you don’t have fall under a certain category or belong in particular circumstances to be excused or allowed a career.”

“You seriously cannot expect something like that to change overnight. Insisting to do so is beyond delusional,” Kitty maintained.

"I'm sorry,” Gilbert stepped in, “Did you read Anne's article? The one you all said you hailed as a beacon of free speech and looked up to."

"I did. I don’t disagree with it. I am simply saying-"

"Then you must see how in no way would marriage interfere with Anne's ambitions and desires,” an indignant Gilbert asserted, cutting her off.

Kitty stared him down scornfully.

"That's if you let her,” she said.

It was then Anne realized that perhaps Kitty did not have bad intentions. She simply had a gruesomely realistic view of things.

"I...it's not my position to allow or deny Anne anything,” Gilbert explained in a tone that felt what he was saying was unquestionable, “As a suitor...and potential future husband...it is my duty just as well, to be a supportive partner and stand by Anne while she strives to accomplish whatever she sets her heart to. Just as she is expected to do for me."

Anne gazed and smiled at Gilbert with love and pride, but her worldly wisdom allowed her to understand that not every woman was blessed with an equally supporting suitor. In fact, very few were. Even fewer were guaranteed the well-rounded future she was trying to encourage the girls to pursue.

"There is a world out there" Anne addressed everyone present as patiently and warmly as she could, conveying her optimism, "that already exists in a new century, that is challenging, amending and overthrowing the norm every single day. Embrace that reality. Head into it with an open mind, and there is nothing you won't be able to conquer. Never settle for anything less than what you deserve and don't ever think you have to submit to a life of convention."

“Gilbert and I are in love,” she turned to Kitty, “And that's why we hope to get married and start a family one day, not because of expectation and convention, only because of a love deep enough to make us desire it. And at no point is anyone expected to sacrifice their ambition to do so. If you think we are delusional then you're surrendering to the idea that change is impossible when in fact it is already in motion. Which is precisely what we were invited here to talk to you about.”

Kitty did not have much left to disagree with. Everyone was silent.

"Alright I say we bring this meeting to an end. Thank you Anne and Gilbert for being here with us. Everyone let's give a round of applause."

Despite the resistance of one student, the others, including the three boys, had been more than positively impacted by all that was said. Most of them approached Anne and Gilbert telling them so themselves and making more inquiries.

"I'm sorry about Kitty. She lives to disagree with anyone who proposes change. I did not expect her to be so disrespectful."

"How is she in this club then?" asked Gilbert.

"I think that is precisely why she is in this club,” Anne had already worked out.

Muriel nodded. “She’s here on her own volition. And what would it say about our humble publication and all we’re trying to uphold if I told her she was unwelcome.”

"You’re right, Miss Stacy. I hope she can dwell on a different perspective now. At the end of the day that’s what we can hope to do,” Anne maturely stated.

"Well, I believe you really made an impact with the others. And like it’s only tradition at this point, I'm certain what you told them today will not sit well with their parents and grandparents. I expect you'll hear so soon enough."

Anne and Gilbert made their leave.

"I really wanted us to find some peace this summer, yet here we are again,” said Anne.

"Well you did mention your work is ceaseless,” Gilbert said more cheerfully, “And I’ve committed to assist you on it forever. So we might as well not cease during the summer either."

Anne smiled at his words and leaned on him.

"How lucky am I, potential future husband,” she teased.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am working on another fic about Anne's involvement with the Charlottetown newspaper related to the Ka'kwet story which takes place after this work.


	7. "Off to conquer the world!"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anne's speech at the Avonlea Gazette has consequences that lead to a candid discussion between her and Rachel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a great opportunity to consider women's unjust reality in that time period through the more rational yet still liberal views of Rachel and Marilla and the very powerful and ambitious vision of Anne for what that reality could be.

That afternoon, Anne devoted her time to Diana, who had just arrived in Avonlea. In the parlour at Green Gables, the girls had engaged themselves in a mature and very proper tea party, like the ones they’d developed quite a taste for at their boarding house. In the kitchen, Marilla prepared food for a board meeting she and Rachel were due to attend later, and much like in the boarding house where most intimate conversations happened in their room long after lights out, Anne was reserving her passionate account of the entirety of her blissful time with Gilbert for then.

It was when Diana was telling Anne about a recent family gathering at Aunt Jo’s that Rachel was heard from outside the house.

"What did you say to Margaret Fine's granddaughter that she has now run home rejecting her suitor and opposing the concept of marriage altogether?" shouted Rachel before properly entering.

“Don’t yell,” Marilla was heard from the kitchen.

"What are you talking about?" asked Anne calmly, having expected Rachel to burst in with such news at any moment that day.

"An absolutely distraught Margaret came crying to me and told me that her granddaughter Emma had run to her parents to tell them she had no desire to get engaged and that she would focus on her academic career until she found a suitor that would support her hopes and dreams. Margaret didn't even need to tell me that Emma was a member of Muriel's newspaper club, to whom I know for a fact you spoke today. Hello, Diana, I’m glad to see you’re back.”

“Happy to see you Mrs. Lynde,” Diana said awkwardly.

"These young women believe that even if they dare to dream, even if they dare to hope that they might use their brains and do something with their skills, all that will end the second they get married. Tell me that is fair,” Anne said right away, as if was prepared Rachel might come in with such news.

"Who’s to say a married woman can’t pursue other interests?"

"Avonlea! You! This is not about pursing interests in order to occupy one’s free time. It’s about a woman finding her standing in the world. A book club or a baking club or a knitting club are not revolutionary. A woman holding down a job, having a career, that is. It's why Matthew and Marilla have sent me to college. It’s what they encourage me to do. I making sure these girls know there’s a place for them in world."

"Anne,” Rachel began to explain calmly and rationally, “some of these girls want to get married and have families and uphold those traditional values that you want to reject. And some have no choice. They simply have to. You can't teach them to not do that."

"I am not teaching them to reject marriage or motherhood. I was in there with Gilbert, for heaven’s sake.”

“Easy now,” said Marilla coming into the parlour, “Is this about your morning with the Avonlea Gazette?”

“Yes,” Anne and Rachel said simultaneously.

“Well, four hours has got to be a record,” said Marilla, unperturbed, fully expecting Anne to have roused some incident, directly or not.

“Gilbert and I talked about our _future_ plans to marry without having to sacrifice our- or rather- _my_ hopes and dreams to do so. You can be certain I wasn’t discouraging the girls from married life rather than simply letting them know they are entitled to a well-rounded one. I can't believe you are still saying I'm wrong to do so, when we have proved time and time again, that a woman can have a full life in her own terms if she chooses and that she can expertly do the same thing that a man can. You and Marilla are prime examples of that, Rachel. How can you still disagree with me?"

"I don't disagree with you Anne. And I’m not saying you're wrong. But just because you can afford to have that life, it doesn't mean that other girls do. College isn't awaiting everyone. A career isn't awaiting everyone. Marriage is the best option for some. That's the way it is. Not everyone has a Matthew and a Marilla, and certainly very few have a Gilbert."

“Mrs. Lynde is right Anne,” spoke Diana, “You know how hard I had to fight to attend Queens. And my other option was a fancy finishing school in Paris. Many girls don’t have nearly as much.”

Anne had come to that realization on her own that same morning, and the reality had only broken her heart. It had also reinforced her will and determination on the work to which she knew she would devote her entire life.

"I understand that. I well do. I just don't want there to be limitations for any young girl. Limitations I came so close to having had it not been for the most fortuitous twist of fate. Limitations a lot of girls in my exact same circumstances still have. A lot of these girls don’t think they can have a well-rounded future simply because it never occurs to them, so they never even ask or dare to fight for one. I want to urge them to dare and build one."

"Of course Anne, and your heart is in the right place,” said Marilla, grasping her daughter’s hands, “But what Rachel is saying is that convincing some of the girls they can dream to have something they ultimately can't is not helpful. For a lot of girls, it’s still the way it used to be for us."

"Then how do I go about changing the way things are?” exclaimed a burdened Anne, “I don't want one girl's potential to be wasted."

"You want to know the real reason I have been nagging you and Gilbert to get married, or at least engaged?" Rachel asked softly as she said down next to Anne.

"Is it not the alleged kiss at church?" she said, making Marilla chuckle and whisper to Diana the words ‘amusing story.’

"No,” Rachel said, smiling kindly at Anne. “It's because I know being married won't keep you from doing all you are destined to do. You are guaranteed to make your mark in the world and do so with Gilbert by your side. The best way to show the world how things should be, is to lead by example."

"You know it might have been Gilbert's words that convinced Emma to reject her suitor. He perpetuated what I said, as he always does...Rachel we already are leading by example."

Diana and Marilla, looked at each other smiling from Anne’s words, their hearts warmed as they always were when witnessing the magic of Anne and Gilbert.

"A love like yours is hard to come by,” said Rachel accompanied by grand hand gestures, “A true match of intellect. An impeccable system of support. I truly hope you can inspire more couples to be like you. But please, resolve to do so without causing uproar in any family homes."

The women all laughed.

"I'm sure in the future I will learn to be more...delicate. But that’s what I was trying to do today and now I am certain my words will never fail to shock the public,” A determined look took hold of Anne’s face, “I have made a promise to fight on behalf of women everywhere, and fight I will, so that every girl can be promised the future she dreams. And I’m sorry Rachel, but if Emma doesn't love her suitor and she thinks he isn’t right for her, then she made the right decision. I'm sure her family will learn to live with it and move on. Emma, on the other hand, wouldn't be able to if she went on and married him. At least not without rousing a bigger, unprecedented scandal."

"And that is precisely what I told Margaret Fine,” Rachel dropped that last piece of information triumphantly.

Anne smiled and hugged Rachel. Marilla was right. They were lucky to have her. All of Avonlea was better for it.

"Well, it’s time to go Marilla. We’re off to conquer the world! Or in our case an Avonlea board meeting."


	8. "I have all this excess of happiness that I don’t know how or where to store!"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anne has a passionate conversation with Diana about her first few weeks of summer bliss with Gilbert.

After Rachel and Marilla left for their meeting the girls retreated to Anne’s bedroom, where Anne was finally free to recount to her bosom friend, without censure or restraint, each and every magical moment she’d had with Gilbert.

Diana was understandably, as a best friend usually is, overly curious about how the three uninterrupted weeks Anne and Gilbert had had together had gone, especially for a couple without the littlest clue on how to limit their public shows of affection. It came to no surprise to Diana when Anne gave her the context for all Rachel and Marilla had mentioned earlier. 

“Gilbert and I don’t even do that much. We just walk around Avonlea and talk.”

“You...talk?”

“We talk,” Anne insisted.

“I’m certain you do,” Diane accepted, smirking.

“Some days we have picnics out in the orchards, and some days we just stay in and...enjoy each other’s company. Our days could not be more perfect, Diana.”

For ten months Diana had always been first and usually the only one to witness Anne’s exceptionally colourful range of emotions when reading a letter from Gilbert or while writing one to him. Returning to this role and seeing her dearest Anne living the fairy tale romance she so deserved filled her heart with boundless joy.

“Anne, seeing you so happy makes my own heart entirely burst! As it has all throughout this past year! I’m glad nothing’s changed.”

“You were there to witness every outburst of glee and utter elation that I’d experience from so much as a brief letter from Gilbert,” Anne said enthusiastically, “so imagine what it’s like to have him with me every single day.”

“Why, you must be going mad!”

“You know how every time I’d receive a letter from him, I would laugh and cry and laugh and cry again as if he were confessing his feelings to me for the first time?”

“I have a very clear recollection of it all, yes,” Diana said in amusement.

“Well, It’s like that every day,” Anne said with a distinguishable gleam in her eyes, one Diana knew really well, “Every day when I lay my eyes upon him, and witness his smile, that very special way he smiles at me, with nothing but love in his eyes...I didn’t use to see that smile often and I thank Heaven everyday that I get to experience it now. That I’m often the cause of it!”

Diana listened to her eagerly, amazed and in awe, at the sound and the sight of Anne emptying her heart.

“Every moment Gilbert and I share,” Anne went on to list, “whether we’re with our families or alone, every instant, every word of affection, every single ‘I love you’ -and there are so many- every kiss- and there are so many- every talk, whatever it may be, every time we recall anecdotes from our school days and comment on our awkwardness as children. Each of those moments is to me nothing short of magical! Even when we’re interrupted. Even when we’re being scolded!”

Anne spoke theatrically but then paused again, collected herself and meekly continued.

“And every night, I lie awake thinking about how far we’ve come, and what we’ve built together, and the sublime happiness that has sprung from our love and brought together our families into a big joyful bunch. Joyfulness far greater than we could have imagined!”

She then paused and took a deep breath. 

“And I get utterly overwhelmed by all this happiness. That’s what it is, Diana. I have all this excess of happiness that I don’t know how or where to store. Because I get to be with Gilbert. I get to tell him I love him, and hear him tell me how much he loves me as well as a million other beautiful affirmations that can only come from him. And what’s so inconceivably wonderful is the fact that with more time that passes, the more we’ve been together, the sweeter our love feels, and the stronger our foundation becomes. I’ll often even swear that I find it impossible to love him any more than I do but he will always succeed in proving me wrong. The truth is I love him more and more with every new day.”

Anne spoke for a long a time. She’d had tears running down her cheeks from almost the very start. Back at Queens, her speeches after receiving a letter from Gilbert or after one of the few times she’d seen him, weren’t dissimilar or much shorter, but this time Anne’s words were rooted in an ongoing reality and bore more meaning, more truth, more wonder. They had Diana overcome with emotion.

“And here I thought,” she said through tears, “that the flame of your romance would have surely faded and you’d just be a boring old couple. How could that idea even cross my mind! You’re Anne and Gilbert.”

“Oh Diana, I’m so happy you’re here!” Anne cried out, “I can only tell Gilbert so many times how much I cherish him if I am to leave some room during the day for us to actually do something. And I can’t really tell anyone else without censuring myself even a little bit. I needed my best friend.”

“I’m happy to be here too. And seeing you so unimaginably happy makes me even happier.”

Diana had gone through a very complicated and charged time herself during their first year at Queens. Admitting she was happy to be back in Avonlea surprised even her, especially upon realization she genuinely meant it. She didn’t know what the rest of the summer promised and was still harbouring feelings of anxiety stirred up by the farm boy who was now resident at Green Gables, but she felt strong enough to handle them. That hadn’t been the case just a few months before.

Anne was aware of most of those feelings, and not knowing whether to address them, or how, she simply chose to reassure her dearest friend in the world.

“I know you were apprehensive about coming back to Avonlea, but a wonderful summer awaits, I can feel it. You will relax and find nothing but peace and quiet and you and I, we will enjoy each other’s company like always, and when it’s all over, guess what, we’ll go back to Queens again, arm in arm, for another year of college adventures.”

Diana smiled lovingly and gratefully.

“Of course Anne! I have no doubt about it. And not to worry, I will make sure to Mr. Blythe gets his fair share of your time. I’m certain he must already be cursing my arrival.”

“Gilbert would never! He still feels that he’s in your debt, and I don’t think that will ever change. You’re our own personal Cupid, remember?”

“Well, I will selfishly and only half-jokingly admit I don’t want next year to come just so our time in college together doesn’t have to end.”

“Diana, our adventures will only grow wilder when we finish college. There’s a greater unknown waiting for us. Who knows what we’ll do! And no one says we have to stop being roommates after we graduate.”

“Actually a lot of people would say that, but it’s not about that. It’s that you’ll very likely be marrying Gilbert, and well it would be strange if we were roommates then, even for you two.”

“But that won’t happen for a while,” Anne said, remembering her decision and prematurely longing for the time their union would draw nearer.

“Have you not discussed marriage at all?”

“We have. We will be married one day. But we’ve decided to wait at least until I finish school to get engaged. Even when I do finish school, he will still be in medical school, at his busiest even, and I don’t think a wedding would be feasible. It feels strange to even consider, since it’s such a long time from now. It’s best we wait,” Anne reasoned aloud.

“It isn’t really that long Anne. A year or two is not long.”

“Well, then let’s occupy ourselves with making what’s left of our time together as memorable as we can, so we don’t have any regrets, even if it passes by quickly. Gilbert and I have time. He and I are already sworn life mates, and we’re in no rush to make our love bond official. As far as we’re concerned it is in every way that matters.”

“I marvel at your relationship, I truly do. Just like I’ve always marveled at you. Even after all this time, it’s still so surprising to me how you can so effortlessly swim against the stream in order to have the full life you know you deserve. Even after a year at Queens and so many years being your best friend, I still don’t know whether I myself am capable of it.”

“Diana, you resisted all that was strictly laid out for you and insisted on creating your own path. And you embraced being bride of adventure,” said Anne referring to an early conversation they’d had at Queens, “You’re one of the most daring people I know,” Anne assured her, “As well as my wise voice of reason, and angel of love.”

Diana smiled in response.

“I love you, my kindred spirit,” Anne then said, “I’d missed you so much.”

“Me too, Anne.”

The bosom friends enjoyed only a little more time in each other’s company before Anne realized she was alarmingly late to her scheduled early dinner picnic at the orchards with Gilbert.

“Ironic how gushing about how much you love your beau somehow made you forget about your beau.” Diana joked.

“No, that was entirely your effect,” Anne laughed as she tied her shoes, “Are you sure you can’t join us?”

“For a romantic sunset picnic? I don’t think so Anne. Besides I have to be at home. It’s my first dinner back.”

“We’ll see each other again tomorrow morning, right? We’ll go see Miss Stacy?”

“Yes.”

“Wonderful. Uh...”

“Go ahead Anne, the longer you stay the more Gilbert will blame me. I’ll see myself out,” Diana urged her. “Go, run to your beloved!”

Rushing to Gilbert and Bash’s, Anne thought about her passionate speech. Her full heart had needed emptying for a while and the manner in which her feelings flowed right out of it had not only astonished Diana but herself as well. They’d had a delayed overwhelming effect and she found herself hyperventilating, not from the haste of her step, but entirely from the heat of her emotion.

The second Gilbert opened the door, without giving him any time to utter a witty remark about her tardiness, Anne flew right into his arms and eagerly gave him, impossible to imagine yet indeed true, the most passionate kiss they’d shared all summer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The references Anne makes to previous conversations with Diana are all mentioned in another work in this series that I'm still working on, focusing on Diana and Jerry after the events of the show, which I hope to publish after I finish this one.


	9. "One particular redheaded hurricane..."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marilla and Rachel discuss recent developments and a fraction of the gang have a sunset picnic at the orchard.

On their way back from the Avonlea board meeting, Rachel and Marilla took a long stroll home.

“You know,” Rachel contemplated aloud, “Avonlea had been a little too quiet for my taste.”

“I don’t know what you mean but this walk could never be too quiet for mine,” said Marilla.

Rachel ignored her words and insisted upon a conversation.

“I meant I had missed having the youths around here, stirring things up. And by youths I mostly mean one particular red headed hurricane. Funny how Anne can return to Avonlea and devote herself to having a quiet summer with her beau, yet still manage to cause uproar somewhere, however indirectly.”

“Funny also how what once might have vexed me, seems to me not only entirely faultless, but perfectly righteous. I’ll stand with Anne through anything now. Proudly. And not just me. You too, mother hen.”

“That is quite true, I’ve said so myself. But as for you, I don’t suppose there was ever a time when you were really angered by Anne. You might have been bothered by the townsfolk’s idle chatter, far more than you are now, but you have always stood right by Anne’s side, entirely unconditionally. Even when I scolded you for it!” she paused and lovingly turned to her dear friend, “How I admire you for it now!”

“Oh, what happy day this is,” answered Marilla in friendly sarcasm.

“I mean it Marilla, I do. You are a such wonderful mother.”

There was no sarcasm left in Marilla. She was utterly humbled by her dear friend’s words.

“It means a lot coming from you, Rachel, truly,” she said, “Thank you!”

Rachel smiled warmly and then her train of thought lead her to something she’d yet to mention to Marilla.

“Oh! I entirely forgot to tell you what Bash told me the other day.”

“If he called you a name, I’m sure you deserved it.”

“Well, I did get called a giant crab but that’s another matter.”

“What?”

“Bash said he wanted to make Anne and Gilbert Delly’s godparents.”

“He did?”

“I take it he hasn’t mentioned it to you yet?”

“No, no he hasn’t. Why, that’s quite the honour.”

“He and Mary, may God rest her soul, had always planned to name Gilbert godfather when he was a little older, but so brief was the time we had our Mary, they never got the chance. Now that Anne’s in the picture, Bash says he might wait just a little more and bestow them both the honour once he can.”

“Apparently he plans to christen Delly when she’s ready for a suitor herself.”

“Aha well, well, well! I see someone agrees with me when I say they’re being stubborn about not getting married.”

“Well, it’s no secret I’ve been wishing upon their union since the day Matthew and I received news of their romance. But it’s entirely up to them to decide when they get engaged, and how long they remain so. And I am so proud of Anne to make her academic studies a priority. She’s a heroine of our changing times.”

“Yeah yeah, that she is. I do agree with you. But as I’ve said, I’m certain things wouldn’t change in any way. Besides, do you suppose when she’s married to Gilbert she’ll stop causing trouble? I count on that bit to stay exactly the same. I have conceded, however. I will stop bringing up the matter with them.”

“They’d well appreciate it. And so would I. And especially would Matthew!”

“Ha, I bet! All I wanted was to plant the seed anyway.”

“Oh you’ve planted a whole forest.”

“Hopefully the wait will keep me young, let’s see.”

“Why, what would there be left for Thomas to do!”

“Ha! Ah, my dear Thomas! I have to say, I understand it’s a new century and all but, why these youths would postpone newlywed bliss is beyond me. Thomas and I went on one walk and…”

“Oh, if only I had a penny for how many times I’ve heard that story” shouted Muriel from behind them, rushing to reach them, “Each time they go on less and less walks. Next time I hear it she’ll have known Thomas Lynde was the one before either of them came to exist.”

“I’ve argued that to be true too,” said Rachel smiling saucily, “It’s written in the stars, I’ve been known to say.”

“You’ve quite the poetic spirit, _I’ve_ been known to say,” bantered Muriel, “when not concerned with gossip that is. Wonderful to see you, my dear Marilla.”

“You too, Muriel.”

“Where are you coming from?” asked Rachel interrogatively, her tone setting off Muriel’s playfulness.

“Why, I’ve taken a lover, Rachel, and I plan to marry him and steal all his fortune. I was devising a most sinister plan as I walked through these woods.”

“She’s worse than your Anne, I tell you,” said Rachel turning to Marilla, “At this point I don’t know who influenced whom.”

“I am joining Bash, Delly and Miss Hazel for a picnic. She’s just back from Trinidad. By the way, I spotted you a while ago, and let me tell you, you are both so quick! So energetic!”

“Thank you Muriel”, said Marilla, “For me it’s mainly a good composition and staying busy. For her, it’s meddling in other people’s business.”

“Oh hush. This one’s had her claws out all afternoon.”

“I do have to say, Rachel. Ever since you stopped trying to find me a husband I have enjoyed your company a hundredfold,” said Muriel giving Rachel a side hug as they walked.

“Good to know.”

“Well, I’ll see you soon.”

“Give Hazel our word and tell her to expect us soon,” said Marilla.

“Absolutely!”

“And if Anne’s there please remind her to be back home on time.”

“Will do!” Muriel waved as she left.

“I figure there’s one way their union is not so favourable after all,” spoke Rachel, noticing in Marilla a spot of gloom.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Other parents get much longer with their children. I see how it isn’t fair.”

Marilla smiled at Rachel gratefully and nodded. 

“We choose to see naught but the wonder of our tale, and we do so every single day. I wouldn’t change one thing about our lives, other than erase all of her past suffering if I could. The only thing we can do is thank Heaven for how fortunate we are to have Anne. Nothing about it is in any way unfair.”

“We are all fortunate to have Anne in our lives,” said Rachel in tears, “Just like I’ve been fortunate to have you in mine all these years!”

At Bash and Gilbert’s lovely apple orchard, Anne and Gilbert were having a typical romantic afternoon. Gilbert lay with his head on Anne’s lap while she told him about the conversation she’d had earlier with Rachel and Marilla.

“I don’t see how you have to change your ways or the manner in which you address people,” Gilbert said gazing up at her, “Every time these people are faced with reason and logic they huff and puff until they eventually come to their senses. It’s when you make them that they do. This town needs you to be you. The entire world does.”

“Matters are more nuanced than that. They require delicacy. Subtlety. My message won’t change, only my delivery. Then hopefully girls like Kitty will see I only mean to inspire them and not...lead them astray,” Anne said, laughing at the absurdity of the words.

“I only hope that doesn’t mean you have to alter your passion,” said Gilbert softly, carefully choosing his words, “That wonderful...thrilling...Anne...fire of a passion.”

Anne smile and tickled his face with her ponytail, tied in the blue ribbon Marilla had gifted her years earlier.

“It’s out of passion that I do it,” she said.

“You’re my hero, carrots.”

As they were about to kiss, Bash shouted a few meters away.

“They’re back at it again, Muriel.”

They had witnessed Anne kissing him hello earlier and despite not having the heart to interrupt them, they had felt quite uncomfortable.

“I think we ought to cover Delly’s eyes,” joked Muriel.

“Pardon us. We thought we were alone,” spoke Gilbert as he sat up.

“Well, we had plans for a family picnic,” stated Bash.

“That’s wonderful actually,” said Anne, “We were hoping you would join us.”

“Ha, no you weren’t.”

“We were,” she insisted, “We owe you some quality time.”

“Easy, who said we wanted time with you, carrots?” teased Bash.

“Well, if that’s the case then feel free to start a rival picnic,” Anne teased back.

“You know what we would but Delly really likes this spot,” said Bash as they sat down next to them, “Careful though, she might be possessed again.”

“We have tricks for that don’t worry.”

“You’ll have to teach me those next time Bash is out of town because I’ll be the one taking care of her,” said Muriel.

“Don’t get your hopes up, I’m never leaving her again.”

“We’ll see. I’ll get you to go somewhere.”

“Well I’m not travelling again either,” said Hazel making her way to join them, “so you’ll have to wait.”

“Well then, I suppose we’ll just have to make the most of our play dates, Delly,” said Muriel bluely.

“Buns fresh out of the oven!” Hazel then exclaimed, “Gilbert has been helping me out in the kitchen all day.”

“Miss Hazel has taught me some invaluable culinary tricks!”

Anne couldn’t help but picture him in their future kitchen putting them to use.

“Not just you, if I might so boast,” said Muriel, “We certainly don’t deserve you, Miss Hazel.”

Bash smiled at their sentiments and at the reality that his relationship with his mother had mended and achieved tremendous growth, and that she was beloved by all his dearest people.

“It’s so wonderful to have you back Miss Hazel!” Anne raised her glass.

The five clinked their glasses to Delly’s cup and proceeded to have a wonderful early evening, which Anne parted as early as she could, without Muriel even remembering to pass on Marilla’s message, in order to afford the same quality time to her dear parents of whom she could never see enough. 


	10. "In your happiness, I find fulfillment."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marilla tells Gilbert of the true nature of her relationship with his father.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I expected chapter 10 to be the last, but I couldn't wrap up the story just yet. This interaction between the Cuthberts and Gilbert came out of nowhere and I am deeply proud of it. I hope you enjoy!

When they were wrapping up the picnic, Gilbert found Anne’s hair ribbon sitting on the grass and went to return it the next morning. He knew she had plans with Diana and Miss Stacy, but hoping to catch her in time (and never one to pass up the chance to see his Anne, even for a minute) he made his way to Green Gables nonetheless.

He found Marilla hard at work in the kitchen.

“Gilbert! Good morning!” she called.

“Good morning Marilla!” he said, making his way to the her, “You’re looking lovely!”

“With all this flour in my hair? Why, you’re a kind one! I would ask what brings you by but is there a point?” she smiled, “You missed her. Ha! I meant that Anne just left but I assume you also _missed_ her.”

“Well, I did,” he laughed, “I always do. But it’s fine. I’m always happy to chat with you.”

“If you want, you can keep me company while I make my loaves. And I can pick your brain about our next family picnic. We’ve only had the one since you and Anne came back for the summer.”

“Let me help you!” he said and rushed to help with her loaf pans.

“Oh fiddlesticks. You stay where you are or you’re not allowed to stay at all.”

Gilbert smiled and gestured a surrender with his hands. He took a seat at the kitchen table and took the ribbon out of his pocket.

“I came to bring Anne this. Just an excuse to see her, of course.”

Marilla hadn’t helped Anne tie that ribbon around her braids in a long time. She didn't even wear her hair in braids anymore. She had almost forgotten about it, and became emotional at the sight of it. She went over to Gilbert and gently took it from his hands.

“You know,” she said, “This was mine, before I passed it down to Anne.”

Gilbert smiled in acknowledgement.

“It was very precious to me,” Marilla admitted almost involuntarily. Upon realization, she spontaneously decided to reveal to Gilbert the simple truth behind it.

“Gilbert,” she said anxiously, placing herself next to him, “it was your father who gifted it to me.”

“My father?” asked Gilbert, surprised.

Marilla didn’t know what to make of his reaction and grew nervous. She took in a few unsettled breaths and wrestled tears in her eyes before gathering herself to finally reveal to Gilbert the full extent of her relationship with his father.

“You do know that your father and I were really close in our youth?” she said, her voice shaking.

“I do. You told me he once asked you to join him in his travels,” Gilbert answered.

Marilla hesitated a final time.

“I was in love with your father, Gilbert,” she blurted out. “We were properly in love.”

Gilbert was surprised at Marilla’s revelation, but more so at it taking place rather than at the contents of it. He had suspected the nature of their relationship to have been romantic, but had never believed he would hear Marilla tell him so herself. Perceiving her visible distress, he awarded her a kind smile and placed his hand over hers.

“I assumed that was the case. Of course I could never be so outright as to just ask.”

Marilla was greatly relieved at Gilbert’s words of reassurance, and deeply grateful for them.

“I could never bring myself to tell you. I’ve wanted to since before you and Anne started courting, but how could I? What would I even say? That I was your late father’s former flame…though we were hardly ever flames.”

“It must have been painful when he left.”

Marilla nodded. An expression of sadness had taken hold of her face. It wasn’t long until an assured smile replaced it.

“Staying home after my older brother’s death, caring for my grieving mother and a very young Matthew, was a very obvious choice,” she spoke delicately, “It wasn’t much of a choice at first, true, as it was unquestionable, but later it became a choice. From time to time, I wondered why things were the way they were. Indeed, it pained me, having given up on love, but I never regretted my decision, and I always prayed your father was living the happiest life he could.”

They hadn’t had the happiest life, Gilbert thought, but his father had always been cheerful and content, until the very end. His memory made Gilbert smile in admiration and in gloom. Marilla noticed.

“I know that having you as a son must have brought him all the happiness in the world,” she said.

“Why didn’t you ever come to see him?”

Marilla looked down.

“It is one of my greatest regrets. The greatest delusion we can have in life is believing we have time. I always believed he and I would see each other again one day, yet nothing could bring me to go see him, not even news of his illness. My heart broke a second time when he passed.”

“I’m sorry, Marilla,” said Gilbert, and the two sat in silence for a moment.

“I miss him so much,” he suddenly blurted, unable to contain his tears, “I wish he could have really known Anne. Heaven knows he would have adored her. She would have made him laugh. He loved to laugh.”

Marilla cried with him.

“But I’m grateful he at least got to meet her,” he nodded, “I know he liked her very much. We were so young but I secretly hope that maybe…he knew. I dream that in his final days, he was bestowed with a touch of clairvoyance, and that when he met Anne he knew that she was my future, and that I would be happy, and felt it safe to leave so soon.”

“I pray that, wherever he is, he knows how loved you are,” Marilla said holding his hands tightly.

“I wish he could see the fortuitous way you’re still part of his life, and always will be.”

“Oh Gilbert,” said Marilla, her tears pouring out, “You and Anne have heard me talk so much lately about the great workings of fate. So much so you’d think I’m not myself! But I finally know what fate had been planning so intricately all these years. In your happiness, I find fulfillment.”

“I’m so grateful for you Marilla,” Gilbert said emotionally, “and for Matthew. I’m so happy that you’re part of my family.”

She smiled fondly at him.

“And we’re grateful for you, Gilbert.”

“Marilla,” Gilbert began to say nervously, “you do know that one day, hopefully not too far into the future…we’ll properly be family. When Anne and I-”

“We already are,” said Marilla, calming him, “In every way that matters.”

Gilbert nodded, smiling gratefully, his heart full of love.

“Thank you for telling me about you and my father.”

“Thank you for being so gracious.”

They sat in silence for a few more moments, comforting one another.

“I’ll go say hi to Matthew,” Gilbert then said, and went to do so.

“We still didn’t get to talk about the picnic,” Marilla said to herself as she rubbed her eyes, then chuckled, then sighed in happiness and relief, feeling more peace, joy and hope at once than ever before.

Matthew had been there. He’d seen Gilbert enter and had gone over to greet him when he’d picked up the shakiness of their voices and bits of their heavy conversation, realizing its context and becoming himself overwhelmed.

When Gilbert found him in the barn, Matthew had to pull himself together.

“Good morning Matthew. Do you need a hand?”

“Gilbert, good morning. Uh…no, it’s alright, son. I was hoping I would have a chance to...chat…with you.”

“Of course, sir.”

“I just wanted to say that I’m… so very happy you and Anne are together, because I’ve seen how happy you make her…and…that is the most precious gift anyone could ever give…give _me_.”

Gilbert did not expect such a speech from Matthew. He’d suspected it had to do with his conversation with Marilla, and chose not to question it at all.

“And just like I’m not…Anne’s birth father, but I love her all the same and she’s my daughter all the same…that…that goes for you. When you need one, you’ll always...find a father in _me.._.is what I'm trying to say.”

“Thank you Matthew,” Gilbert answered softly, “for your heart and your kind reassurances. You have been a blessing in my life. All three of the Cuthberts.”

Matthew smiled at him warmly.

“I could say the same,” spoke Jerry, poking out of pile of hay unexpectedly, making Matthew and Gilbert laugh a soothing laughter.

“Bash,” Gilbert called as he went into his home, having failed to find him outside.

“Hey Gilby,” Bash answered, looking up from his notebook, “Is everything alright?”

“If I were to… propose to Anne…do you think that would be a wise decision?”

Bash smiled endearingly. He had long expected that question. Until then he’d only heard hopes of the proposal one day happening and was ecstatic that day was fast approaching.

“What happened this morning? What majestic thing did Anne do to make you reach for the ring box?”

“I didn’t see her. She’s with Diana and Miss Stacy. I spent the morning with Matthew and Marilla.”

“Oh. Strange, but I won’t question your line of thinking.”

“What do you think?”

“Well, I did sit right here once, not even a year ago, thinking you were proposing to Anne and losing my mind feeling happy about it, didn't I?”

“How do you feel now?”

“I think, since it is bound to happen, why wait? But, I do also think there’s time.”

“After all our talks about choosing to wait, I’m scared I’ll make the same mistake twice. That I’ll burden Anne with too much, and she won’t be able to give me an answer. I can’t do that ever again.”

“I understand, but you and Anne, you’re above this doubt. This would be understandable if it were any two other people, but you two, you don’t just have love, and a love so pure and passionate at that, you have a bond, a connection, an understanding that makes your love one for the ages. I would know, I had it once with Mary. I always will, in fact. There’s no room for such insecurity. Anne wouldn’t want you to fill yourself with worry about something as joyous as a marriage proposal. And she’d see right through you anyway. Talk to her, or, be a little more patient.”

“If I could, I would marry her right this instant,” Gilbert sighed, plunging into a kitchen chair.

“Then maybe you already have your answer,” said Bash and unbothered returned to his notebook.


	11. "This regrettably entertaining tale of woe."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anne and Gilbert have mirroring conversations with Aunt Jo and Diana respectively about their great new (and same) unshakable wish.

A few weeks later, with summer having gone on peacefully and hellishly quickly, Diana and Gilbert accompanied Anne on a trip to Charlottetown. She had secured a meeting with the editor-in-chief of Charlottetown Daily intending to discuss her idea for a piece about her family, hoping the paper would print it before the summer was over.

Anne had written for the paper as a youth contributor, and despite them respecting her discipline and skill, she found herself insecure about approaching them with a personal piece. 

“I desperately want to give our family a gift the way I know how,” said Anne on the train, “And I think our story is too beautiful not to share in some way. But I worry. The paper hired me for one thing, to write about university life in the new century, and not my life’s story. At least it’s what I can picture them saying. Ugh, my imagination is running wild with all the harsh words they can use to turn me down.”

“If your story doesn’t intrigue them, your writing most certainly will. They hired you because of it. You’ve got this Anne,” Diana cheered on.

“You do Anne,” Gilbert did as well, “They would be fortunate to print anything you write, and they’d be fools not to publish whatever you bring their way.”

“Your greatest fanatic here is right. He may be a little biased, so am I frankly, but we are well aware, as all of Avonlea is, even your most fervent critics, that in this area you are a force to be reckoned with.”

“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” added Gilbert.

Anne’s warmed heart manifested with a smile. She hadn’t quite doubted her determination or skill, so much as the reluctance of the editors, one akin to that she’d faced continuously in Avonlea as well as in an otherwise perfect university experience, but the assurances of two of her dearest people in the world kept motivated her unmatched talent of persuasion.

* * *

Gilbert and Diana waited for Anne outside the editor’s office. The two had spent more time together than ever before in order to both enjoy Anne’s company, but very rarely, perhaps only once before, had they spoken to each other alone.

“So, have these weeks in Avonlea been what you were wishing for?” asked Gilbert in friendly concern.

“They really have,” Diana smiled at him appreciatively, “This summer’s been wonderful.”

She was being honest.

“I’m so glad Diana.”

“I need not ask how your summer’s been,” she playfully reciprocated the question, “nothing short of a fairytale, if I may guess,” Diana spoke in reference to one of his earliest letters to Anne, that she had passionately read aloud to her one night.

“Fairytales couldn’t properly convey the absolute magic that has been this summer,” he answered, just as playfully.

“You have certainly become more of a poet than I’ve ever known you to be. The Anne Shirley influence is unmistakable,” said Diana, and the two laughed like two old friends would. It was clear to both of them how close they too had gotten.

It was perhaps an instant acknowledgement of that fact, paired with weeks of unresolved uncertainty, that made Gilbert open up to Diana like he never had.

In preparation, his laugh faded and his tone grew serious.

“You know, when I say that every day is magic, I mean it,” he spoke gently, yet intensely, “Not as a vague romantic sentiment, but as absolute truth. And not just in our purely romantic moments but in everything in between. _Especially_ in everything in between. Just the fact that I get to sit here supporting Anne as she moves up in her career means...everything. It’s all we promised each other, to make our way in the world hand in hand, and here we are, making it happen....That’s the fairytale for me.”

Gilbert felt in his heart the truthfulness of his own words.

“I realize that’s might be a silly way to put it but-”

“Maybe to a cynic,” Diana interrupted him sweetly, “but even a cynic could not roll his eyes at your sentiments. I know what you mean, Gilbert. It’s something Anne spoke of too. Your reality is solidifying. What was once simply your heart’s desire...is now very real. And very serious. It’s your life.”

“Anne _is_ my life. And my certain future,” Gilbert stated, with that distinct gleam in his eyes and that equally distinct tone of voice that Diana and everyone close to him expertly recognized, “The fact that we’ll be apart again soon creeps up on me every so often and reminds me that this is but a fleeting taste of our future and the realist in me wants to make sure his feet are touching the ground until such time comes, if it comes, and that’s a whole other fear of its own, but then again, just the wondrous thought that this could be our lives one day...That it will be...” Gilbert sharply turned to face Diana, “Diana, for weeks now I’ve been hoping, itching...to take a step,” he struggled to speak, “that we had...until a few weeks ago...chosen to delay-“

“Gilbert,” Diana exclaimed, dangerously loudly, causing him to signal her into a lower voice, “are you saying you want to propose?”

“Of course I do,” he whispered emotionally, “I’ve wanted to be engaged to Anne since before we...before _your_ infamous speech. Anne and I have discussed it. We know it will happen. I just...every morning I wake up gloomy that...it hasn’t happened _yet_. And I feel guilty about such-“

“Gilbert,” Diana interrupted him firmly, but gleefully, “I don’t want to add to your pain of being too in love, but I have to note that you are being very dumb for someone so intelligent.”

“Do you think I’m being foolishly impatient and unwise?

“You’re only being foolish in questioning yourself. Perhaps Anne’s been preoccupied with the piece and you’ve had too much time to reflect and, well, you’ve worked yourself into this regrettably entertaining tale of woe,” Diana spoke whimsically, but Gilbert had not been freed of his anxieties.

“Bash said the same thing. He said I should talk to Anne. But if I am to propose, it has to be a romantic surprise and I...I want to be patient but I can’t imagine waiting another year...or even a few months...And I don’t want Matthew and Marilla to stumble anymore when introducing me as Anne’s _beau_ , not when we are so much more to each other. I just want our official status to reflect that. But what if Anne doesn’t think it necessary and I’d just put her in an uncomfortable position and ruin this perfect summer? And Anne’s working on her writing career and-”

“Gilbert, your doubts are perfectly founded and they’re only a testament to how much you love Anne, that the slightest possibility of hurting her _pains_ you, but...you could never hurt her. Look at where you are right now! Not only actively supporting her but deeming your life a fairytale because you get to. Your words! You couldn’t possibly ruin this summer for her. Not in a billion years! There is no need for you to feel this way. You don’t need me to tell you that. I know it is impossible for you, in any capacity, to want to do something that Anne wouldn’t also want.”

Gilbert shook his head, taking in Diana’s words, and feeling overwhelmed. A gentle smile awarded to her restored calmness to his previously worried expression.

“You’ve done it again,” he said softly.

“I am your own personal Cupid after all,” she laughed, realizing what he meant, “And I’ll always be your friend, but I can’t always be your counsel. I know you know what to do. If _I_ can trust you regarding Anne, you can trust you regarding Anne.”

“Thank you so much, Diana,” said Gilbert, and before he could say anything further, Anne burst out of the editor’s office, causing them to shoot up from their chairs in anticipation of her news.

“Well, things are quite promising,” she declared, “The piece can’t be very long, but I expected as much. It will be a challenge to fit everything into five hundred words but they will publish it!”

“Oh, that’s wonderful!” Diana and Gilbert both exclaimed, with him lifting Anne joyously off the ground as Diana watched on proudly. _Knowingly_.

* * *

Later, the three naturally paid a visit to Aunt Jo, which had in fact been their pretext for coming to Charlottetown in the first place.

“Ah look, it’s those who keep me young,” she greeted them.

“I hope _I_ ’m still part of that list,” teased Cole, walking behind her.

“Well...” she teased back, making everyone laugh.

Cole and Diana hurried inside, while Gilbert and Anne remained by the door with Aunt Jo.

“There’s no need to run,” she scolded, “Ah well, I’m happy at least that when Diana’s here she can exhibit the exact amount of carelessness that would make her parents fume. It’s really wonderful to see you both!”

“It’s wonderful to see you Miss Josephine-”

“What did I tell you last time you came to visit, Gilbert Blythe,” she interrupted him.

“I’m sorry, Aunt Jo,” he corrected himself.

“There you go.”

“If you’ll excuse me, Aunt Jo, I promised Bash I’d go help Elijah with a few errands in town and I can’t really stay.”

“Oh, it’s alright dear Gilbert, only as long as you promise to visit with Anne very soon.”

“We promise, Aunt Jo,” he said, and gave Anne a shy kiss on the cheek before leaving.

“Always charming as a prince, your Gilbert,” she said, walking with Anne to the main parlour.

“It’s charming princes that ought to take notes from Gilbert,” said Anne proudly.

“I imagine how wonderful it must feel to have him all to yourself after so many months apart.”

“It’s been nothing short of a dream, Aunt Jo. What am I saying? It’s heaps better than a dream...it’s _reality_!”

“It’s safe to say you’re truly happy, then?”

“It would be an understatement.”

“Then believe me when I tell you that my heart is positively bursting with joy. To think, where you two still stood less than a year ago. And now you look at you.”

“We’ve certainly come a long way since then. Now...now we’re each other’s certain futures,” said Anne as she took a seat next to Aunt Jo in the empty parlour.

She stood in silence for a moment, pensively fixing her gaze somewhere out the window, her confident and cheerful demeanour replaced by a far more serious one.

“In fact, not only am I certain he’s my future,” she then spoke promptly, turning to Aunt Jo, “I sometimes wish I could accelerate everything and have that future arrive already.”

“How so, my dear? Do you wish to be wed already?” Aunt Jo joked, but Anne’s expression remained serious.

“Well, no, no not now. Not practically. But in my heart...I do get a little impatient sometimes, I have to admit,” she paused, then turned to Aunt Jo again, “Sometimes, when we’re silently cherishing each other’s presence, I’ll look over at Gilbert, his handsome face lit by candlelight, or moonlight, or sunlight...and I feel my heart physically incapable of containing all the love I have for him...and I think, of all this love that I am blessed to have and be surrounded by, he accounts for so much of it, in the special way only _he_ can. He is my great romance, my great love. The only one there ever will be. And his love...is irreplaceable...and I want it forever - and I want it now,” she added laughing through tears.

Aunt Jo did not expect such a speech right away, but carefully took in every word, amused at the incomparable speed in which Anne spoke.

“Huh, I suddenly recall how once you wanted to be a bride but not a wife, and now you’re not yet ready to be a bride but you could be...a wife.”

“The thought of being Gilbert’s wife...is such a happy one. We won’t marry yet, Aunt Jo. We couldn’t! But we could be...”

“Betrothed...officially. As it’s conventional.”

“We are so perfectly comfortable in our love for one another that I’ve always boasted we don’t need convention. Not when we’ve long sworn to be each other’s life mates, but...”

“I know, my dear. I understand,” comforted Aunt Jo, “It’s a matter of ‘the way of things’ that everyone around you is always advertising, versus your free spirited approach to life.”

“Until a few weeks ago we were discussing being married and having a family, but only in the context of _one day_ , and now, in such a short time, which I realize is because we’ve spent so much time together, it feels right to me...to think about making way for it to happen. I feel that it’s time we started putting things in motion. I have so much to do in life, that both scares and excites me, but I know that having Gilbert as my partner through it all will make everything worthwhile. He is one of my greatest blessings, Aunt Jo, and he is better than the best protagonist of the most romantic tale in existence,” Anne again laughed through tears, “That might sound delusional, I know, but I don’t feel childish at all saying so. It’s the truth.”

“Perhaps to someone who hasn’t been fortunate enough to have it. To me, it makes perfect sense because I had that someone. In Gertrude.”

“Would you really liken Gilbert to Gertrude?” Anne was deeply touched.

“Actually, I think _you’re_ the Gertrude and I’ll be so bold as to liken him to myself.”

“I don’t want to rush the future. I don’t want to be impatient,” said Anne, “And it’s true, I don’t want it to feel that I am giving in to outside persuasion, not when it’s what my heart tells me...but it’s what my heart tells me! It’s what feels most natural.”

“Impatience is only so when something is premature. And there’s only room for doubt when there’s the slightest possibility of something not being right. My dear, you have the privilege of being with the love of your life in whatever way your heart desires and you’re able to trumpet the fact across the world if you want. Don’t inflict useless worry upon yourself. Not when you could be bursting with joy instead! I know Gilbert would go to the end of the Earth if it meant making you happy. And I think you already know in your heart what you really want, and I know you have the wisdom to act on it.”

“Thank you, Aunt Jo,” said Anne, and before she could say anything else, Diana and Cole swiftly graced the room with the dynamic energy they possessed as a duo, one only surpassed by that they had as a trio.

“Aunt Jo, did Anne tell you about her piece yet?”

“I was about to, Diana.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope everyone is safe and healthy during this difficult period the world is going through! Sending everyone so much love!


	12. "It will make sense in a second."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anne and Gilbert show up to family dinner bearing exciting news! Yes, that exciting news!

Another week had passed. It was a cool summer evening and Green Gables buzzed in the grand company of what was arguably the happiest bunch in all of Avonlea. Three Lacroix, two Cuthberts plus one Baynard, one Lynde and one Stacy, were all differently employed around the house, while Blythe and Shirley-Cuthbert had yet to grace them with their presence.

“Do you think there’s a chance they’ve just forgotten?” proposed Bash when Marilla entered the parlour from the kitchen.

“What, that we had family dinner?” she said.

“No, that all of us exist and they’re not the only two people in the world,” he joked.

“Now, that’s unfair Bash, don’t you think?” said Muriel.

“You can’t deny that those two have tried all summer to give us due attention,” said Marilla as she took a seat, “even when their eyes begged for them to be excused so they could run off to each other.”

“Well, who could blame them?” spoke Rachel, poking out of the kitchen, flailing around a wooden spoon, “Now with summer coming to an end I only pity them having to say goodbye to each other.”

“I pity us having to say goodbye to them too,” said Matthew coming in with Jerry, “I dread going through that again.”

“Didn’t I already ban such grim talk at our last dinner?” talked Marilla sternly, “It applies to tonight and every night from here on out.”

“I am with you Marilla,” spoke Hazel with Delly on her lap, “Besides, _we_ were promised a fun evening of jokes and laughs tonight and you all better deliver.”

“Cheers to that!” Muriel raised her glass, and so did everyone instinctively.

“Speaking of,” said Bash, “I have some exciting news to share with everyone tonight, but we have to wait for _everyone_.”

There was a faint knock on the front door followed by a timid entry. Diana then bashfully walked into the parlour.

“Good evening everyone!” she said, and everyone greeted her welcome.

“Ah! I’m so glad you could join us tonight, dear!” said Marilla.

“We’re still waiting for the lovebirds,” explained Jerry as he pulled up a seat for her next to his.

It wasn’t long after that the lovebirds did finally show, causing a now hungry bunch to exclaim different variations of “Finally!” and “At last!” and “There you are!”.

"Sorry we’re late, everybody!” said an enthusiastic Anne, “It was impossible to keep track of time.”

“Well, I figured you’d be late so I put the roast in later than we’d planned. It’ll be ready in twenty minutes,” stated Marilla, rousing a few grunts.

“Thank you Marilla,” said Gilbert, with a quiver in his tone noticeable at that moment only to Marilla. He seemed to her excited, giddy. He was beaming.

“Well then,” declared Bash, “before we sit down to dinner, I would like to make an announcement to the family- now that _everyone_ is finally here,” he added pointedly, side-eyeing the couple in good fun.

Gilbert settled next to him and Hazel and Anne hurried to take her seat next to Diana, greeting her with a kiss on the cheek. A nervous Diana looked over at Gilbert intently, and he, noticing, gave her one firm nod. She then looked down at Anne’s hand, tucked under her own arm, and nearly jumped. Containing her excitement (and maintaining her silence) for the next few minutes was the hardest thing she had ever to do.

“I wanted to let you all know,” declared Bash, “that I have decided to hold a christening ceremony for Delly before the summer is over. I am overdue in picking a godparent for Delly and taking into account Mary’s wishes and our plans, as well as my mother’s advice…I have asked Muriel to be her godmother.”

“And I have eagerly accepted,” confirmed Muriel joyfully.

Everyone in the room was surprised, yet undoubtedly, overjoyed.

“This is unexpected certainly, and a tad unorthodox but if it isn’t so fitting!” approved Rachel, who deeply appreciated the important role Muriel played in Delly’s upbringing and the comforting friendship she provided Bash, “Who could be a more perfect godparent? But Bash, you’ve long told me-”

“And it should come as no surprise,” Bash hurried to reveal his own news first, turning to Anne and Gilbert, smiling lovingly, “that I would also like Anne and Gilbert to be Delly’s godparents. You would officially become so when the time comes, if it does, whenever that is...we’ll wait...if you’ll accept, of course.”

Anne and Gilbert, as well as everyone present, were unspeakably touched. They accepted immediately, running over to award Bash, Delly and Muriel with loving hugs. As Anne embraced Bash and Gilbert squeezed Delly, each found the other’s gaze and with the warmest eyes, they gave one another an excited nod and mouthed ‘ _It’s time’_.

“Well, Bash,” spoke Anne as she let go of him, raising her voice theatrically, “you _won’t_ have to wait very long after all.”

Everyone pricked up their ears, in their minds piecing together the couple’s recent whereabouts and nuances of speech, in order to support the conclusion their fast-beating hearts were beginning to expect. Diana, already in the know, had been meaning to exhale for about five minutes.

“How so?” said Bash, raising an eyebrow, and one lip corner.

“Well, Anne and I...”

“Yes?” near yelled Rachel from across the room.

“ _We..._ ”

“Say it!” she aimed her wooden spoon at them. Everyone held their breath.

“We’re engaged!” exuberantly declared Anne, shyly raising her hand, adorned with Gilbert’s mother’s ring.

Gilbert stood next to her smiling like the world’s happiest human, and at that instant, he probably was.

The company were outrageously surprised at the sudden announcement of the long awaited news, but certainly more thrilled than their stunned expressions could show.

A few days before (when Anne had returned from Charlottetown) she had hinted at Matthew and Marilla that she wouldn’t mind going back to Queens engaged, but even if it wouldn’t happen she would still remain the happiest young woman in the world. Those portentous words had prepared the Cuthberts for the event, as they knew better than anyone, that if Anne wanted to, Gilbert definitely wanted to, and it would undoubtedly happen before the summer was over. Not that very evening perhaps, but soon enough.

“I sensed something the moment you walked in!” said an enthused Marilla, approaching to hug them, “I saw it all over your face, Gilbert Blythe, you walked in here an engaged man!”

“I pray we have your blessing. I couldn’t bear one more day of not having proposed to Anne.”

“Oh Gilbert, you have long been granted our blessing!”

“I have desired this for a long time Marilla, but it wasn’t until our talk last month that I knew I couldn’t wait. That Anne and I, are _meant_ to be.”

“I’ve known that for a long time,” she assured him, gently pressing her palm to his cheek.

“So have I,” spoke a very emotional Matthew, ignoring Gilbert’s extended hand and taking him in for a hug.

“Matthew, thank you for bringing Anne to Avonlea and giving my life meaning,” said Gilbert, a sentiment so warm and full of adoration that Matthew had not expected.

“It’ll be an honour to call you son,” he said promptly, from the bottom of his heart.

“I’ve been waiting for weeks! I was just losing hope,” said Bash, to whom Gilbert hadn’t mentioned the matter of proposal since consulting him on his first whim to get engaged a month back.

“Well, I could never disappoint you.”

“Well…no, you never could. I am so happy for you!”

Rachel then jumped in and almost forced all parties off Anne and Gilbert and gathered the two in her own tight squeeze, and yelled “Happy day! Happy day!”, refusing to let go.

* * *

 ** _A few hours earlier,_** Gilbert had proposed to Anne…that they go someplace different for that afternoon’s date. Someplace he’d had in mind, where they hadn’t had reason to return.

“Remember this special place?” he said, as the two walked up to the ruins.

“Do I?” answered Anne, speaking whimsically, “It lives forever in infamy in the darkest corners of my memory.”

“Mine as well,” said Gilbert after a deep breath.

They both chuckled, then let out a sigh.

Anne wondered why Gilbert was so adamant in them going to the ruins and was herself trying to find the right moment to reveal to him her true heart’s desire regarding their future. She was briefly lost in anticipatory nervous thoughts until Gilbert, blind to her obvious distraction due to his own paralyzing nervousness, spoke to her.

“Anne, I know this will sound really strange, but will you please do one thing for me?”

“What is it?”

“Could you…stand on the old boat?” he asked, nervously pointing to the upside down boat on which she’d once stood entertaining her classmates with pirate jokes.

“You want me to stand on top of the boat?”

He nodded, visibly anxious. He understood what Anne said only by the movement of her lips, as his loud heartbeat had drowned all sound.

“Please.” _It will make sense in a second,_ he said to himself.

The way he pronounced his plead knocked the curious smile from Anne’s face, and signaled to her that something serious was afoot. She had thought of a joke but it escaped her. Taking Gilbert’s hand, and making sure to flash him an assuring smile, she stepped on the boat.

“Well, here I am,” she curtsied playfully, “What’s on your mind?”

Gilbert began to take large steps backwards. He had it all planned out.

“It was a year ago today,” he spoke as he walked, “that we took our Queens entrance exams. Afterwards, having decided to join the rest of the class of ’99 who were here celebrating, myself too distressed and disquieted, and lost, I walked up to this spot near panicking, without a clue as to what to do. And then…” he stopped dramatically, “I looked up. There you were, and in an instant...I knew. There you stood, more beautiful than I could ever describe, dancing in front of a fire, and I had a feeling inside my chest that no words could properly explain. Definitely no medical terms that they could teach me in school.”

Anne smiled, touched at the memory Gilbert was detailing for her for the first time.

Such had been his plan. He now began walking toward her.

“It struck me, clear as day. Anne, my competitive classmate, who’d whacked me over the head with a slate, who was the most intelligent, incredible person I knew, whom I had _always_ admired and adored…” Gilbert was overcome with emotion, “I had known as much for a long, long time, but _that_ was when I knew, more assuredly than anything else before, that I was head over heels in love with Anne Shirley-Cuthbert! And there could be no one for me…but her. I approached you,” he was now at her feet, “the same way you approach a statue at a museum, so majestic and pristine, you feel unworthy.”

“Gilbert, we had been running and drinking...I was messy and dirty…”

“And yet, you, right here, were the most beautiful sight I had ever been witness to.”

Gilbert held his hand out to Anne, just as he’d done a year ago.

“I asked if I could speak to you,” he said as he helped her down, proceeding to recreate the events of the year before. Anne followed him to a few meters away, where he’d first confessed, in his own way, his feelings.

“I must say, I commend your theatricality, though I still don’t understand.”

“We were here,” Gilbert spoke anxiously, knowing in just a few short moments she would, “It was here.”

“Yes,” said Anne, picking up on his nervousness and affording the re-enactment her due commitment, “I sat here, perplexed, my head pounding, as you told me all about a potential future in store.”

“You asked what was keeping me from accepting it.”

“And you said it.”

“I did, in a way.”

“But I said...we didn’t... Gilbert, this isn’t exactly the brightest moment in our history, I don’t know why we’re reliving it.”

“Anne, even when believing you didn’t love me back, I knew that nothing in the world could possibly come close to being as wonderful as a future with you. I insisted on coming here, because this is where my conscious and all my senses, caught up with what my heart had been telling me for years. That I was irretrievably in love with you. And each day since, whether we’ve been apart or inseparable as we’ve been this summer, whether you’re speaking passionately of something you love or resting silently next to me, I feel _exactly_ the way I felt when you were right there, dancing in front of the fire.”

They were gazing deep into each other’s eyes, their hearts racing, and Anne was beginning to realize the afternoon would- might- turn out far more momentous than she’d planned.

“Anne...I wish to redeem this site by telling you that...I want to be yours in every capacity, that I want us to commence the future we’ve dreamt up and promised each other...Anne, I love you…such that…words entirely fail me. I love you in a way I am certain no poet or romantic has been able to put into text. I don’t know how to express it using words that I haven’t used a million times in the past year. The only thing I can think of is this,” he pulled out the beautiful teal gemmed ring out of his pocket, his hands- and voice- shaking, “Only if you want to me proceed.”

Anne became overwhelmed. She started hyperventilating. Her heart beat like it was trying to crack open her chest and burst right through. It wasn’t, however, something she hadn’t felt before. This was how every major milestone with Gilbert had felt. She opened her mouth to speak, urging the words to reach her lips faster.

“It’s all…It’s all I’ve been thinking for weeks. The only think I dreamed would make the summer better…I wanted to tell you today…I...”

“You did?”

“Gilbert, please proceed,” she pleaded, preventing any unwanted ramblings, tears now streaming down her flushed cheeks.

He approached her and gently took her hand, urging her to stand. “Anne, the greatest blessing in my life is having _your_ love. For years you’ve been the magic in my life, and now...you _are_ my life. You’re my whole life. All I want is to be there for you for the rest of it... through everything, _for_ everything, and continue to love you the way I do,” he said in tears, took a deep breath and at last, got down on one knee.

“My Anne with an E,” he pronounced fiercely, “will you ma-”

“Yes!”

“-rry me?”

“Yes!”

“Will you be my lifemate?”

“I will be your lifemate!”

Anne burst into tears of happiness and bent down towards him, grabbing his face and planting in his lips the most passionate of kisses. She then kneeled completely, laughing and embracing her now fiancé. Gilbert gently broke away in order to place the ring on her finger and effortlessly swept Anne off the ground, spinning her around in ecstasy.

“I am the luckiest woman in the world, in history, to have you, Gilbert Blythe be my lifemate. You are the greatest person I know,” she said cupping his face, “and I love you more than is humanly possible.”

They met each other’s lips once more, and then each other’s foreheads, the beautiful orange sunset peeking through the space between them, and a light pink glow enveloping their fused silhouettes.

Through streams of tears, they breathed in each other’s presence, smiled, laughed and rejoiced. They then settled on the wet grass and in silence, remained embraced in each other’s arms for a long time, a perfect combination of overwhelming joy and love weighing in their hearts almost heavier than a human could bear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a longer chapter part of which I merged with the final one, which I will post soon enough since it is almost ready. I started this work having planned only 8 chapters which then become 10, then 12, and now finally 13. I am excited to wrap this work up and move on to another because I have so much planned.


	13. "In the eyes of recorded history..."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The summer ends the way it began, full of immeasurable love and joy, giving way to an exciting new beginning in which Anne and Gilbert are officially betrothed.

“I can already see it!” said Rachel as she finally released Anne and Gilbert from her grip, “Spring wedding, all of Avonlea present-”

“Slow down, Rachel!” exclaimed Anne, “Slow down. We are engaged, at last, yes, but the wedding isn’t happening any time soon, alright? So please contain your excitement for at least a year. At least! We’ll be a thousand kilometers apart in a very short time.”

“That’s what you said about getting engaged,” said Rachel through her teeth, as Muriel approached to take her turn in congratulating Anne.

“What?” they both turned to Rachel, arms still around each other.

“We promised Marilla we wouldn’t talk about you leaving, that’s all!” said Rachel and embraced them both, “Oh, I am over the moon!”

At their feet, Delly tugged at Anne’s skirt. Muriel picked her up.

“Isn’t it incredible Delly? Anne and Uncle Gilby are engaged!” she explained to her, “That means they’ll get married! And all three of us will be your godparents!”

A little further away, Jerry towered over Gilbert, with the most menacing look his sweet face could afford, before giving him an endearing brotherly hug.

“You have to give me details later,” Diana told Anne when her turn finally came, “I have more reason than anyone to be curious, right Gilbert?”

“Indeed,” said Gilbert, joining them, “Anne, you have to know it was Diana who spoke all sense into me, regarding my wishes to propose.”

“It was?”

“It always seems to be!” teased Diana.

“She made me settle my doubts-”

“Which I might add, were all regarding your stance on engagement and not his. He has been settled on this for a long time.”

“If my bosom friend had so much say in the matter, it’s all the more special! I love you Diana!”

* * *

“Well, that was as exciting as I could’ve hoped for!” Hazel told Marilla as she helped her get dinner ready.

“You look as if you knew!”

“Apart from their very unreserved show of love, much too often I have witnessed Gilbert do nothing but sit in his room and stare at that ring that’s now on your Anne’s finger. Frankly I’m surprised it took this long.”

“Well, not if you were to ask us. But in all seriousness, neither Matthew nor I have any reservations. We couldn’t pray for a better young man for our daughter. We love him so dearly. We always have.”

The company beamed for the rest of the night. At dinner, Anne and Gilbert sat across from each other, and now that they were engaged, Gilbert didn’t look at her any differently than he had years before, for his gazes, no matter how much his love grew, couldn’t physically appear any more adoring than they always had.

* * *

After the company left, Anne and Matthew sat on the porch enjoying the warm late summer breeze of the night, like they often did.

“So, how does it feel to be…uh…engaged?” inquired Matthew.

“To be engaged to Gilbert, like my heart can’t bear all the joy.”

“To see you so happy, is all I could expect out of life. Nothing more. If you’re truly happy Anne, I am happy hundredfold.”

“It is all because of you that I am blessed to be so happy,” Anne grabbed Matthew’s hand, “And my happiness wouldn’t be nearly as grand if you and Marilla weren’t my parents. I love you so much, Matthew!”

“I love you!” he squeezed her hands.

“If I may join in?” declared Marilla, sitting next to Anne, wrapping her in her arms, “My beautiful Anne! Engaged! As happy as I am, I still can’t believe it!”

“I’ve been thinking,” said Matthew, a very rare instance of him speaking his thoughts aloud unreservedly, this only an indication to their importance, “If only I could go back in time a few years and tell the young girl I brought home from the train station that in a time much shorter than she thinks, she will be engaged to be married to a fine young man who thinks she’s the most wonderful person in the world.”

“As he should,” agreed Marilla.

“Tell her she’s engaged to the love of her life, and when she asks if he is anything like the romantic heroes in her books, tell her he’s way better!”

“Well, I’d tell her we wouldn’t allow anything less.”

“Excuse me, Cuthberts?”

“Jerry, come in dear, come join us.”

“I wanted to say congratulations one more time.”

“Come here,” said Anne, receiving him in her arms.

“What a special night!” stated Jerry.

“Indeed.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Mrs. Lynde this happy,” he said.

“I wonder what she’ll move on to, now that Gilbert and I are engaged.”

“Here’s to hoping she’ll finally get a few weeks of rest,” quipped Marilla.

“Why, that’s the reason we got engaged, so Rachel could take a break.”

After a few laughs, Anne bid her dear family good night. She rushed to compose a letter to her editor, containing two short additions to her piece: the words “fiancé” and “goddaughter”.

The next morning Gilbert was to join the Cuthberts for breakfast. When he entered Green Gables, a joyful Marilla urged him to go upstairs, where Anne was waiting for him.

“Good morning,” greeted Gilbert, a confused expression on his face, upon seeing Anne stand in the middle of her bedroom, in a strange and unnatural stance.

“Good morning, Gilbert. It was a year ago today that Diana and I sat on this here bed,” she spoke in a mock serious tone, using his same words as the day before, “and I jumped up and declared that I was in love with you. I was in love with you, Gilbert Blythe, and I have to tell you…” she broke character, and approached to kiss him good morning, “It feels glorious to wake up your fiancée. I am incandescently happy!”

Gilbert laughed and took her in his arms, and swung her around for ages.

* * *

The summer had proved to be incomparably happy and memorable from very early on, and like rarely in one’s life, it would remain so until its very last day. For Anne and Gilbert, it was undoubtedly the greatest season they had ever lived through.

Two weeks after the proposal, and about twenty minutes after Delly’s christening ceremony, Matthew and Marilla hosted everyone at Green Gables for a family celebration that sadly doubled as a bittersweet goodbye party.

The company- extended company, for it included Aunt Jo and Cole as well- buzzed all around Green Gables in a gorgeous scene worthy of being immortalized in an art sketch. Good thing it was, in many of them, by Cole. Utilizing the unusually bright sunlight and finding inspiration in the simple beauty of a family gathering, he made sketches of Aunt Jo engaged in conversation with Muriel and Bash, Jerry chasing Delly around, Rachel and Thomas lounged together in a corner, Diana and Anne whispering in each other’s ear, Gilbert assisting Marilla with the food and Matthew clinking glasses with Hazel, as the two quietest of the bunch.

“But who will sketch you sketching us?” Anne joked.

“You shouldn’t have moved, I’m not finished.”

“You can use your imagination. I have an announcement to make.”

“Oh, just a second,” said Cole, and rummaged in a messenger bag he’d kept close to him, and pulled out five newspapers, or rather five copies of the same newspaper.

“Everyone,” Anne shouted, “I have something to show you.”

The company all turned to her.

“These are copies of today’s ‘Charlottetown Daily’. Aunt Jo and Cole brought enough for everyone. In the literary section, you’ll find a piece titled ‘My Wonderful and Unique Family’, written by yours truly. Keep in mind, it’s criminally short but it’s the best I could do right now. Knowing me, you might imagine the great challenge it was to contain all my thoughts and feelings in so short a piece, especially regarding my family, regarding you all. I had this idea early this summer, upon my many realizations of just how fortunate I am to have you all. Every single one of you. I’ve written about familial bonds unbound by blood, but purely love, and the different shapes and forms a family can take. And how rich and fulfilling all these love bonds are, as you know. Consider this my love letter to you all. I love you more than I could put into words, definitely more than five hundred words.”

“Well, don’t do so now, we’ll be here until tomorrow,” teased Jerry and promptly added a playful “We love you too, Anne.”

“Well, what’re you waiting for?” said Bash, “pass them around.”

“Look out for your initials.”

After everyone secured a copy, they took turns reading the excerpts in which they were protagonists.

“Hmm, ‘G. found B. out at sea of all places, and brought him home as a brother. Ha-ha, I ought to use that as a rhyme for Delly,” said Bash turning to his daughter beside him, musing happily, “Gee found Bee at sea and brought him home to Avonlea.”

“Miss S., a teacher who became more than a guiding light or a mentor, but a true family member.”

“‘R., the toughest woman one could ever meet, one of my personal idols, and the greatest protector to all those she loves, whose love with T. inspires generations of young romantics,’ why that’s high praise, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Since everyone is reading theirs aloud,” said Aunt Jo, “Formidable J., who took in a young artist C, and became each other’s family, bound together by bonds more powerful and kindred than imaginable.”

“D., a kindred spirit who accepted and loved A. unconditionally from the very start, and is a friend more treasured than heaps of gems and gold combined.”

“J. became a brother to A. in every conceivable way, especially when the two bickered much like siblings would and more so when they were always there for one another.”

“M. whose spirit lives on in everyone’s heart and the perfect smile of baby D, goddaughter to Miss S., A. and G., and granddaughter to the wonderful Miss. H., whose wit and strength proved the greatest addition to the family.”

“A. and G. who found in one another a true intellectual match, at times manifested as competition, and oftener, a loving friendship, realized that in their wondrous unique bond, lied that singular kind of love, romantic love, which shortly would reveal itself to be one for the ages. After less than year of courtship, they are now engaged," read Gilbert, "I think it not very humble for those words to come from you, Anne. They're one hundred percent true, but still."

“Finally M. and M., the farmers who adopted orphan A. and showered her with all the love one would only afford one’s own blood. Orphan A. is none other than I, the author of this piece, who wishes to thank them, in the eyes of recorded history, and offer a simple gesture not only out of appreciation and gratitude, but an unimaginable amount of love, for they are the best parents a girl could ever wish for.”

Tears flooded Matthew and Marilla’s eyes, who held on to the same copy of the newspaper.

“These real instances, all within the same unique group of family and friends, inarguably illustrate how blood is but one means of defining family, and certainly not all it is confined to. With the right amount of love in one’s heart and the most noble of intentions, family may be constructed, made, gifted, sought and found, and the bond is not only equally powerful, but may even exceed it, and the proof lies in my very own well-being." Anne read the closing paragraph.

“I wasn’t expecting this,” said a tearful Marilla.

“Do you like what I’ve written?”

“Like it? Anne, this is such a wonderful gift, and gesture!”

“Come here,” said Matthew, and Anne ran to their arms. "We're your parents!" cried Matthew, "You don't ever...have to thank us...for anything!"

“You’re our blessing, our treasure!” cried Marilla.

Bash went over and hugged Anne immediately afterwards, and soon so did everyone.

However sad their going away and imminent parting were, the happiness and joyfulness clouding Green Gables remained immeasurable.

* * *

“I can’t believe the summer is over,” said Gilbert caressing Anne’s face as the two lay in the grass.

“It’s for the best. It began a perfect summer and stayed so right until the end. And it will forever be a perfect summer in our memories, no matter what.”

“You know I can’t even begin to say how much I’ll miss you…”

“I know, let’s not talk of it now. It’s not time for goodbyes yet. There surely aren’t enough words but there also aren’t enough tears to get me through it.”

“The more I think about it the more I’m relieved that I’m returning to Toronto engaged. The goodbye lines up perfectly with an exciting new beginning, so it really lessens the pain. What’s a few months apart anyway, when there’s a lifetime to look forward to,” said Gilbert softly, taking Anne’s hand, interlocking it with his and holding it to his chest.

“Indeed, my betrothed,” said Anne saucily, in love with the word, “Since I really appreciated your genius gesture of taking us to the ruins to propose, would you want to recreate the events of the day our romance commenced, you know, at my boarding house? And then you can run off to Toronto the same way you did last year.”

“If the circumstances are the same, I wouldn’t mind. I would be chased off with a broom otherwise, or worse, something heavier.”

“Well, technically all the rules apply to suitors. They don’t mention fiancés.”

“Would you really rouse Mrs. Blackmore on your first day back?”

“For the sake of sentimentality apparently, yes. But alright, no thinking of ceremonious goodbyes right now. In this instant, there’s only you and I, and it’s perpetually summer.”

“I love you, my lifemate.”

“I love _you_ , lifemate.”

Such was their reality. From years of not fully understanding their feelings, through the pain of once believing one didn’t love the other, and after many months apart, they had each been rewarded by fate with the love of the most wonderful person they had ever known. There was no longer a mere hypothetical future to behold, but a present to embrace. The future had commenced, and Anne and Gilbert were each other’s to cherish, now and forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been such a joy to work on this fic. When I started out I just wanted to have Anne and Gilbert thinking about the future and assure their love for each other but the more it went on the more it became obvious this summer I dreamed up could only end one way. With them engaged. And I just want them to be happy forever and ever and they are, in my head they are. Thank you so much to every reader, thank you for the hits and the kudos and the bookmarks, and a grand and ginormous thank you to everyone who has commented. You have made my whole year with your kind words! I hope everyone is safe and healthy and this difficult time the world is going through can be over soon. Sending so much love out to everyone!


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